One of Time's 12 Books for the History Buffs on Your Holiday Gift
List
The first single-volume history of Istanbul in decades: a biography of
the city at the center of civilizations past and present.
For more than two millennia Istanbul has stood at the crossroads of the
world, perched at the very tip of Europe, gazing across the shores of
Asia. The history of this city--known as Byzantium, then Constantinople,
now Istanbul--is at once glorious, outsized, and astounding. Founded by
the Greeks, its location blessed it as a center for trade but also made
it a target of every empire in history, from Alexander the Great and his
Macedonian Empire to the Romans and later the Ottomans. At its most
spectacular Emperor Constantine I re-founded the city as New Rome, the
capital of the eastern Roman empire, and dramatically expanded the city,
filling it with artistic treasures, and adorning the streets with
opulent palaces. Around it all Constantine built new walls, truly
impregnable, that preserved power, wealth, and withstood any
aggressor--walls that still stand for tourists to visit.
From its ancient past to the present, we meet the city through its
ordinary citizens--the Jews, Muslims, Italians, Greeks, and Russians who
used the famous baths and walked the bazaars--and the rulers who built
it up and then destroyed it, including Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the man
who christened the city Istanbul in 1930. Thomas F. Madden's
entertaining narrative brings to life the city we see today, including
the rich splendor of the churches and monasteries that spread throughout
the city.
Istanbul draws on a lifetime of study and the latest scholarship,
transporting readers to a city of unparalleled importance and majesty
that holds the key to understanding modern civilization. In the words of
Napoleon Bonaparte, If the Earth were a single state, Istanbul would be
its capital.
