Buy new:

$25.99

List Price: $35.99

Save: $10.00 (28%)

FREE Returns

FREE delivery February 19 - 22

Or fastest delivery February 13 - 21

Select delivery location

Usually ships within 2 to 3 days.

As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Want to listen? Try Audible.

[{"displayPrice":"$25.99","priceAmount":25.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"25","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"PbCPohCwgcRA2Tl4S%2Fzj70pvbmg6TWT8%2F%2B4mLVIMAQVedD4zs%2B9ySDNytgz9i5NJgqMibwWLMMt7vut9HL4RxdwHpN6LPVQKX%2BNnCDh70RErrGJr7xUpG47kzBQMYAc%2BUDPjUh7gxE2NXDGqOZWwGA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"}]

$$25.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$18.66
+ $7.32 shipping

Sold by: Moe Joe Trading

Added

Not added

$34.33
& FREE Shipping

Sold by: MyPrepbooks

Added

Not added

$35.50
+ $5.99 shipping

Sold by: BigNameBooks

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the Author

Bettany Hughes

Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities Paperback – March 5, 2019

by Bettany Hughes (Author)

449 ratings

Editors' pick Best History

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$13.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$43.10

$44.99

$19.32

Paperback

"Please retry"

$25.99

$18.66

$33.81

Audio CD, Audiobook, CD, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$34.49

—

Kindle
$13.99 Read with Our Free App
Audiobook
$0.00 Free with your Audible trial
Hardcover
$43.10

10 Used from $19.32 2 New from $44.99 1 Collectible from $46.50
Paperback
$25.99

7 Used from $33.81 16 New from $18.66
Audio CD
$34.49

2 New from $34.49

Save 50% on 1 when you buy 2 Shop items

Enhance your purchase

Istanbul has long been a place where stories and histories collide, where perception is as potent as fact.

From the Koran to Shakespeare, this city with three names--Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul -- resonates as an idea and a place, real and imagined. Standing as the gateway between East and West, North and South, it has been the capital city of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires. For much of its history it was the very center of the world, known simply as "The City," but, as Bettany Hughes reveals, Istanbul is not just a city, but a global story.

In this epic new biography, Hughes takes us on a dazzling historical journey from the Neolithic to the present, through the many incarnations of one of the world's greatest cities--exploring the ways that Istanbul's influence has spun out to shape the wider world. Hughes investigates what it takes to make a city and tells the story not just of emperors, viziers, caliphs, and sultans, but of the poor and the voiceless, of the women and men whose aspirations and dreams have continuously reinvented Istanbul.

Written with energy and animation, award-winning historian Bettany Hughes deftly guides readers through Istanbul's rich layers of history. Based on meticulous research and new archaeological evidence, this captivating portrait of the momentous life of Istanbul is visceral, immediate, and authoritative -- narrative history at its finest.

Print length

864 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Da Capo Press
Publication date

March 5, 2019
Dimensions

6.1 x 2.6 x 9.13 inches
ISBN-10

0306921995
ISBN-13

978-0306921995
See all details

Frequently bought together

+
+

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

by Bettany Hughes Paperback
$25.99
Usually ships within 2 to 3 days.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
by Jason Goodwin Paperback
$22.00
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Get it as soon as Tuesday, Feb 14
by Philip Mansel Paperback
$20.23
In stock.
Usually ships within 2 to 3 days.
Ships from and sold by Book Depository US.
Get it Feb 16 - 23

Jason Goodwin
348
Hardcover
81 offers from $2.40
Lale Surmen Aran
167
Paperback
in General Turkey Travel Guides
46 offers from $13.98
Sabahattin Ali
83
Paperback
60 offers from $2.99
Bettany Hughes
340
Hardcover
48 offers from $7.59
Jenny White
149
Paperback
44 offers from $1.59
Christopher de Bellaigue
189
Hardcover
in Historical Middle East Biographies
53 offers from $16.22

Special offers and product promotions

Buy 2, save 50% on 1. Offered by Amazon.com Shop items

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Groundbreaking...a colossal undertaking...a notable achievement"--Roger Crowley, bestselling author of 1453

"Impressive. In Istanbul, Hughes plays intriguing, sophisticated games with time and space.... By making unlikely connections between well-described locations and events separated by eons, she gives voice to those witchy, diachronic feelings in a spectacular fashion."--The Economist

"Richly entertaining and impeccably researched. Hughes's ebullient book is an ode to three incarnations of the city."--Peter Frankopan, author of the international bestseller The Silk Roads

"Brimming with brio and incident...life-filled and life-affirming history, steeped in romance and written with verve"--Justin Marozzi, award-winning author of Baghdad

"Mesmerizing... Weaves research and insight with understanding and love: here is a book written as much with the heart as the mind."--Elif Shafak, award-winning author of The Bastard of Istanbul

"Shows readers how a prehistoric settlement evolved through the centuries into a great metropolis, the crossroads where East meets West."―New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

"Curiously gripping...[Hughes] establishes just how deep the Greek roots of the settlement called Byzantion went...She has a fine feel for the complexities and shadings of that distant past...Hughes's tone is both scholarly and rich in visual detail...Show[s] how intricate and improbable Istanbul's history has been."―New York Times Book Review

"[A] marvelous new book...[by] one of Britain's most successful television historians...[An] ambitious enterprise...Vivid and readable prose...[A] wonderful evocation of Istanbul's glittering past."

―Wall Street Journal

"Hughes is not an argumentative historian. She avoids the debates of academe. She is a wistful and impassioned cosmopolitan who has produced a challenging story."―Financial Times

"A deeply researched biography of a legendary city...A panoramic cultural history of a fascinating place."
―Kirkus Reviews

"Packs the story of its three iterations-Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul-into one volume, from its earliest settlement in 6000 BC, to the 20th century. Though it sweeps across eight millennia, this glinting mosaic of a book is divided up into short episodic tesserae that evoke vivid aspects of the city's history and demonstrate the long reach of it influence."

―The Bookseller

"A vibrant, sprawling portrait of a city as enigmatic as it is historically important...Hughes' entertaining narrative style with its visual details, dramatic archaeological discoveries, and cliffhanger chapter endings allows her erudition and exuberance to shine."
―Booklist (starred review)

"Hughes demonstrates a passionate and keen eye for detail in her newest book covering the history of Istanbul from its classical origins to the modern era. Despite its heft...this work is eminently readable and thorough...A timely work, given current events, and a powerful testimony to Istanbul's impact on culture, society, and religion over time. Historians and lay readers alike will find this a welcome addition."
―Library Journal

"The kind of history that rewards existing knowledge while functioning perfectly well for the reader who brings little in the way of previous experience of the ancient world to the book. The pages are dense with information yet the work is never overbearing; you finish every chapter feeling smarter and, even more importantly, newly curious."
―The Awl

"The information that is presented is excellent."―San Francisco Book Review

"Be prepared to learn...The maps included are numerous and depict everything from the city itself, its defenses, growth, locations of important temples, building and churches to the wider Mediterranean world and the extent of respective empires. They are extremely helpful, detailed, and informative"―New York Journal of Books

"The always engaging Bettany Hughes has written [an] electrifying book on Istanbul...In the many well-done portraits of a variety of figures-from prominent emperors and empresses to stylites, eunuchs, knights, medics, and janissaries-she goes beyond just the biography and facts and often imparts some of the relevance of their actions and ideas...There is relatively little in the history of Istanbul that one won't find in this book...Thorough, informative, and well researched...Upon closing the book's cover a reader will have received a rich and in-depth experience of this grand city...Hughes's zest, knowledge, and nearly lifelong interest in this city shows itself on every page."―PopMatters

"The strength of this particular account lies in Hughes' focus on the totality of the city's inhabitants, not just the powerful ones. She introduces the reader to emperors and sultans, but also to slaves and refugees. She gives emphasis to the roles women played in the city over time...The result is a more complete presentation of the city's history...Hughes' conversational tone makes the book extremely approachable, regardless of one's familiarity with the city. Peeling back layers of time and fantasy, she shows us why this city is such an integral part of humanity's story."―Washington Independent Review of Books

"Hughes wonderfully tells the story of a city that has been many things at many different times...[A] terrifically rewarding new book...In sure, gripping prose, the story moves steadily forward through violent clashes between Christian and Turkish forces vying for this city...It's a spellbinding performance from start to finish...Gorgeously-written."―Christian Science Monitor

undefined―"10 Best Books of September,? Christian Science Monitor

"[A] majestic and immensely enriching narration of history...A journey through conquest and greatness from Roman to Ottoman times and it reminded me of why I love the city."―Financial Times (?Best Books of 2017: Critics? Picks?)

"A sprawling one-volume survey of the history of one of the world's most consequential cities, Bettany Hughes' Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities, like its subject, captivates from beginning to end. Written with verve and color, its short, easily digestibly chapters pulse with the author's enthusiasm. For anyone who has traveled to what was once Constantinople and Byzantion/Byzantium, Hughes' artful marshaling of archeology, literature, and cultural history offers a fascinating portrait of this city at the nexus of East and West...To the reader who hasn't visited The World's Desire, the book is likely to stir hopes of a pilgrimage one day...Hughes has the knack of assembling wide-ranging detail with the focus needed to sustain a narrative of such sweep...The writing shines."
―Blogcritics

"In her beautifully written account, British historian Bettany Hughes capably juggles telling anecdotes and historic milestones from across the centuries."
―Milwaukee Shepherd-Express

"The book is cleverly organized around descriptions of various artifacts from Roman times that have been uncovered in the recent digging...Hughes has a gift for collapsing detail gracefully."―New York Review of Books

"[An] informed and energetic account of one of the world's great metropolises...A colorful, popularized narrative history that covers a lot of ground...Informative and never boring...[A] fascinating story. And [Hughes] tells it well."―Washington Times

"The book offers a readable tour of it all from the prehistoric to the Erdogan government and the attempted coup of 2016...Highly recommended."―Choice

About the Author

Bettany Hughes is an award-winning historian, author, and broadcaster. She is currently professor of history at the New College of the Humanities and a research fellow of King's College, London. She is the author of three popular books, including the New York Times-bestselling The Hemlock Cup. She lives in London.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Da Capo Press; Illustrated edition (March 5, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 864 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0306921995
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0306921995
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.85 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 2.6 x 9.13 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #187,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #56 in Turkey History (Books)
- #169 in Middle Eastern Politics
- #1,035 in Historical Study (Books)

Customer Reviews:
449 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Bettany Hughes

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

449 global ratings

5 star		68%
4 star		20%
3 star		5%
2 star		3%
1 star		4%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all customer images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Suphan Andic

This is a good book, but several comments can be made regarding ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a good book, but several comments can be made regarding its contents. The first section beginninhg with Byzantione and ending with the decline of the Byzantine Empire with the conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmet II in 1453 is very detailed. Within this section I know the destruction of Old Rome, the establishment of New Rome and of the Byzantine Empire. I know in detail the 4th crusade by the Venetians in 1204 whose aim was Jerusalem, but who were so surprised by the beauty of Constantinople that they stayed there, destroyed it and returned to Venice with a variety of art works which today can be observed in Venice. The section is good in describing the discoveries the excavations have made during the construction of the tunnels in Istanbul. My comments refer to the Ottoman section of the book. Early in this section the book emphasizes the role of royal women praising them being the ones whose behavior in bath houses brought the renaissance by playing some role in the palace and/or requiring the construction of mosques. This is not renaissance. Subsequently it returns at length to their behavior in the harem, the way their dress, expresses in detail their behavior in bath houses, inviting guests there, including Lady Montagu and other European visitors. But with respect to events, especially with respect to battles between the Ottoman Empire and Europe, I find it explaining in detail those won by Europe, but mentioning extremely simply those in which Ottomans are defeated. For example, as the first siege of Vienna is concerned it is simply stated that the Ottomans had arrived to the walls of the city, but Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent withdraws due to inclement weather. However, the third siege of Vienna in 1683 by Sultan Mehmet IV occupies a whole chapter, even mentions the decapitation off the Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha who was the commander. Well, it was a successful event for the West. Also the sea battle of Lepanto in 1571, which is a defeat for the Ottomans, is analyzed in detail including the beheading of its commander Muezzinzade Ali Pasha. The Janissary corps is treated very lightly. There is no mention of the gradual decline of their organization after the reign of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, becoming a state in a state, changing viziers as well as killing them, dethroning and killing sultans, even raping them, appointing new ones , and becoming very powerful. Finally Sultan Abdulmecid I eliminates them in 1826. The author mentions their elimination in the list at the end of the book. My most important comment is the slight emphasis on the real renaissance during the reign of Sultan Ahmet III, which unfortunately lasted a short time. The author describes in detail the conquest and the development of the city thereafter with the Sultan Mehmet II increasing its population by bringing in migrants from different areas and undertaking new constructions in the city. The author refers to the successful achievements of the sultan also as renaissance, which it is not. The real renaissance occurred during the reign of Sultan Ahmet III together with his Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha, but lasted unfortunately a short time. The author gives slight emphasis to this real renaissance.As Turkish history books do, the author also refers to this period as the Tulip Age. But in the Ottoman Empire the love for tulip is nothing new. Even before the reign of Sultan Ahmet III tulip was a favored flower. Moreover, the word lale (tulip) and Allah (God), when written in Arabic letters contain the same letters. Sultan Selim I had brought 50,000 bulbs from Aleppo; Sultan Murad III 300,000 bulbs from Crimea to plant in the gardens of the palace. According to Evliya Celebi there occurred a tulip market in Istanbul. But the age is not a Tulip Age. It is an Age that began with the activities of Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha and became the beginning of art, poetry, music, science and westernization, and the first -- and I insist the first -- and the last renaissance period. The great orientalist Bernard Lewis is of the same opinion. The changes it brought could not spread to the entire country; they occurred in Istanbul and to a certain extent in Konya and Nevsehir. A book is required to describe the developments that took place during this period. It was a period when liberal arts and thoughts developed, it was the beginning of an enlightenment in the fields of science, architecture, painting, miniature, music and poetry. For this purpose a movement towards the West occurred. Ibrahim Pasha succeeded in achieving only a part of what needed to be done. But because of the conditions of the society in which he lived it ended in 1730 with the rebellion led by the yeniceri Patrona Halil, as the author indicates in the list at the end of the book. This section should have been given more than its rightful due than the behavior of women described in several chapters.

21 people found this helpful

Helpful

Peggy Ghiloni

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 25, 2023

Verified Purchase

Lots of history and insights.

Helpful

Francis O Walker

3 cities--but 1,001 tales

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 31, 2022

Verified Purchase

Bettany Hughes, in this marvelous book, paints a lush panorama of life in Istanbul from the iron age to the age of Erdogan. She tells us both what happened and what it felt like: sounds, sights, smells, tastes and touch. And, while all roads may have led to Rome, all waterways led to Istanbul, making it a city of superlatives and sometimes also of extremes—courage, urban development, upward mobility and freedom…but also cruelty, catastrophe, inequality and slavery. The role of women in the history of this remarkable city are highlighted as well. Lively, engaging and comprehensive, this book is a great introduction to the many faces of Istanbul as well as those within and how they affected the world. Highly recommended.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Joe

Mystical, Visceral History

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 15, 2017

Verified Purchase

Man, Bettany Hughes' books are always such a treat! You always know when you crack open the cover and dive into those 700 pages that you're not going to get straight history. Rather, you get a poetic description rich with content and...well...something that's not simple, linear history.

Many great (and terrible) history books are all written in a similar, familiar style. They provide a connect-the-dots presentation of the content: books that are engaging and informative. At their best, they transport you into the past to really feel the culture and issues of that bygone era.

Bettany Hughes new book, "Istanbul," (just like her previous two books) approaches history differently. It's complex--almost mythical, but always rooted in her extensive personal research and the most recent scholarship.

Hughes uses beautiful prose to interweave past and present. She'll put you in a specific place--some little back alley of Istanbul... or anyplace!--and within a few sentences dazzle you with descriptions from antiquity and present of that one place. Past and present merge. Eras crash together. All history seems to synthesize. You feel it all at once. This isn't straight, linear history... it's mystical, visceral history!

Reading "Istanbul" is a bit like being a geologist studying the layers of rock on a cliff face. There it all is, past and present together, piled in artful layers. You get a sense of both history and timelessness.

That's not to say there's no linear, historical development in this book. There certainly is a good, old fashioned connect-the-dots, cause-and-effect telling of Istanbul's biography here. Hughes spends 700 pages walking us from antiquity to modernity. But if you pick up this book, open it to any chapter, read it, and you'll find a confluence of many historical streams flowing into that one moment and place.

Reading this book is a joy in the same way "Helen of Troy" and "Hemlock Cup" were. I love Bettany Hughes' books! I bought both this book and her last one the day they arrived in the store. So, September 12, 2017 was a special day for me when this one hit the shelves. Reading her books can take you on quite a trip. They are a drug I quite enjoy!

31 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Michael Padamattumel.

This is a book of propaganda not history

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 21, 2018

Verified Purchase

It is a biased work. Chapter 8: " There is a possibility that Lydia was invented by Luke" Might this be a deduction by Sherlock Holmes? Chapter 9: "The Berber author Lactantius (a Christian, so not an unbiased source) describes..." better have a pin ch of salt handy in case of reading history written by Christians. Chapter 11: "An interesting possibility here is that a Christian gloss has been conveniently sealed over pagan historical fact" this same convenient fight of fancy is absent while describing Osman's dream in chapter 50. The gruesome murder of Hypatia by Christians is graphically described in chapter 21 and in chapter 47 we read, "For the majority of women (and indeed men) living in this region at the time of Crusades who had he misfortune to be in a town when it fell to the Crusaders, sexual violence in the name of God would have been not the exception but the rule". Reading the latter chapters of the book, one gets the impression that the Christians were virtually hoping for their towns and villages to fall to the Muslims in Jihad so that the women and girls could become part of the war booty and finally gain entry into the harems, and the men, if they survived, could become the Janissaries. Very benevolent conquerors indeed. "Since the clash between the Abbasid s and Ummayads, sultans had been allowed to claim one fifth of War captives as their own. The system continued vigorously until the seventeenth century." This is misleading because this clause was in effect from the time of prophet Muhammad and is still effective as per the claims of the ISIS. Chapter 58: We have to pity the Ottoman war fleet whose personnel could not differentiate between merchant vessels and war galleys. During Lepanto battle, Turkish admiral Ali Pasha " was beheaded and his severed head displayed on a pike - a brutal act that punctured the Ottomans' morale". The finds finds the display of a head severed in the thick of the battle to be a brutal act: Of Cyprus, the author says, " In A. D. 1570 the sultan Selim ll had invaded Cyprus. The surrender of the Island 's Christian rulers at Famagusta in 1571 spurred....." However, conveniently or otherwise, the author fails to mention the following: 1) that Cyprus was a colony of Venice and that there was a peace treaty in force between the Ottomans and the Venetians, sworn upon the Koran. Invasion and seige of Cyprus was a contravention of this treaty. 2) that Kara Mustafa ( Ottoman commander) had guaranteed the life of the Cypriot citizens and Venetian soldiers before they surrendered. 3) that, Kara Mustafa and the Ottomans contravened the surrender terms. 4) that after surrender, 30000 Christian civilians were massacred and 2000 boys and girls were enslaved and sent off to Turkey. 5) that Marcantonio Bragadino, commander of the Christian garrison at Cyprus, was tortured, flayed alive, taken in procession around the town. After the murder, his stuffed skin was run up a yardarm and displayed like a windsock. 6) that at the battle of Lepanto, two of the Christian war galleys were commanded by the brothers of the murdered Bragadino. The author who highlighted the "brutal" decapitation and display of a head by the Christians in the batlle of Lepanto could not find words to write about the Muslim atrocities at and after the seige and surrender of Famagusta. That perhaps is the author's manner of writing history. This particular book will not be found in my collection of history books.

27 people found this helpful

M. Dowden

Interesting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

Bettany Hughes does give us here quite an interesting read, and she has obviously taken in a lot of research in writing this, but at times this does get a bit bogged down with too much detail on minor elements. The main reason I purchased this was to have a biography of what is currently Istanbul, but although that is here it does have to be admitted that at times this does wander slightly off that course.

We are given details about certain people, such as Constantine and his family, but this is probably for most people information that we already know, from various stories and legends, and what is really known, but in places such as this we are given details of things that do not really impact fully with the story that we want to read, and that is the story of a city that has long been important as a trading centre between Europe and Asia.

This is well written, and it does have to be admitted that Ms Hughes does tell us in the introductory pieces that this is her personal account of the city, but even so you are left in some places wondering why certain events are only briefly gone over, and in other places perhaps too much attention has been paid to events that do not really, or only mildly impact on the city. There are maps, photos and such like here which most will probably find useful, but at the end of the day this is perhaps a bit too much geared towards the popular history sub-genre of history, despite its length.

I will admit that I did like this book, but I will also be the first to admit that it is far from perfect, but then also it will perhaps make readers think about the history of where they live, and how historical fact can become mixed up with myths and legends. As the author uses a lot of classical sources perhaps this may also make a number of people turn to reading these, and as Bettany Hughes has long been campaigning for the classics to be taught in secondary state schools, perhaps parents may think about taking a closer interest in what their children are being taught. On this point I must admit that I do support the author on this, as technology and hard sciences, along with English and mathematics are certainly important, but if you do not want things to get out of control with the appliances of new technologies and so on, then it does help to have a grounding in history and the classics, as such problems have been probed since time immemorial, especially when you get into philosophy.

2 people found this helpful

Chatterbox

It's beyond me how this book became a bestseller!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 2, 2019

Verified Purchase

It is evident from the very first pages that the author is well versed in the subject of Istanbul's history and very knowledgeable. Unfortunately for her, knowing a lot and being able to engage the reader aren't one and the same thing! The book has an enormous amount of information but fails to engage and sustain the reader's attention and interest. It's too heavy going and too full of facts that are, separated from the deep knowledge of the author, mean very little or nothing to the layman.

The book references far too many dates and too many places that no longer exist without the convenience of the context of their belonging in today's map, which makes it even more difficult to read.

Referencing historical figures without any context doesn't add to the pleasure of reading either.

This book is probably fine for people, who don't mind the author's style, academics or history students but it did absolutely nothing for me. I was bored out of my wits reading it. It would have been so much better if the author mastered the art of storytelling and told Istanbul's story in a coherent manner.

4 people found this helpful

Antony J. Stanton

A lot of interesting information, but too verbose and complicated.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 2, 2018

Verified Purchase

There is a lot of fascinating history attached to Istanbul. The author has clearly got a lot of information and done an awful lot of research. Alas I personally found the book too complicated and too wordy. Saying that, it is a positive mine of information, so anyone who already has a good knowledge of Greek/Roman history will appreciate this book, I am sure. But for me, a layman with almost no previous knowledge, I did not really get as much from this book as I had hoped.

12 people found this helpful

Liam Kelleher

A truly epic work of history and storytelling

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 13, 2019

Verified Purchase

Bravo Bethany Hughes. As I strolled around the streets of Istanbul, this book brought the forgotten corners to life, such as the remnants of the Serpent Column, a reminder of the forgotten Spartan days of the city of Byzantion.

Equally unmentioned in most touristic tales is the Egnatian Way, where all roads lead to Rome. The stories of the colour factions of the cities (greens, blues, reds and whites) will give comfort to football fans that it’s not just a game or modern notion. The city’s leaders would attend these events because - without Twitter - how would one know ones popularity without a chorus of boos/cheers.

Enter Constantine, mad and brutish. Of course it’s inpoosible to tell the story of Istanbul without interlocking early years of Christianity with tales of Rome, Alexandria and Jerusalem. There is a fascinating chapter of the silk worm and resulting stench in the city as it centre of centre of trade. So much so that the Vikings made it to the Hagia Sophia. The Viking insight is truly fascinating, indeed we are told they warped into the Rus (or precursor to Russians) from this time.

A mere 300 pages into the book we get a first mention of Islam and the resulting crusades, which to be frank I felt received little attention compared to the 300 pages on Greco-Roman history. Similarly the sections on the Ottoman Empire are relatively scant. That can happen when one goes to Oxford where they believe the history worth knowing seems to stop at the fall of the Roman Empire and restarts in 1914.

Yet, she does give us a brilliant chapter on the Siege of Vienna. Furthermore if you go to the Hagia Sophia you will see a sign saying the Third Rome with a map showing Moscow. All is explained within with an ensuing war between Russia and the Ottomans ( Britain sided with the Ottomans to halt Russian expansion resulting in the Crimean war and the charge of the Light Brigade). The city was becoming cosmopolitan and European again before WW1, when Britain turned the gun on the Turks.

She turns to the Sykes-Pickot agreement (though I disagree with her that the S-P agreement was not implemented. The main elements of its divisions were implemented, just not to the letter). Britain and the western world finally had control again of Istanbul after almost a 1000 years. Kemal Attaturk saw an end to that, establishing the capital in the Ankara, less susceptible to western influence.

What an exceptional book. The chapters are a mix of short and long to great effect. She knows when to say to something of interest but also how to keep it short. She shows incredible dedication as a historian now just on paper but in practice, performing an experiment to burn pig fat to see if they really could melt bronze.

Extraordinary. Even beats SSMs “Jerusalem” as one of the best city biographies. One for the ages.

3 people found this helpful

See all reviews

Buy new: $25.99

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Author

Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities Paperback – March 5, 2019

Enhance your purchase

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Videos

About the author

Bettany Hughes

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$25.99