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Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul Paperback – November 2, 2015

by Charles King (Author)

572

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The inspiration for the Netflix series premiering March 3rd
"Hugely enjoyable, magnificently researched, and deeply absorbing." ―Jason Goodwin, New York Times Book Review

At midnight, December 31, 1925, citizens of the newly proclaimed Turkish Republic celebrated the New Year. For the first time ever, they had agreed to use a nationally unified calendar and clock.

Yet in Istanbul―an ancient crossroads and Turkey's largest city―people were looking toward an uncertain future. Never purely Turkish, Istanbul was home to generations of Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, as well as Muslims. It welcomed White Russian nobles ousted by the Russian Revolution, Bolshevik assassins on the trail of the exiled Leon Trotsky, German professors, British diplomats, and American entrepreneurs―a multicultural panoply of performers and poets, do-gooders and ne’er-do-wells. During the Second World War, thousands of Jews fleeing occupied Europe found passage through Istanbul, some with the help of the future Pope John XXIII. At the Pera Palace, Istanbul's most luxurious hotel, so many spies mingled in the lobby that the manager posted a sign asking them to relinquish their seats to paying guests.

In beguiling prose and rich character portraits, Charles King brings to life a remarkable era when a storied city stumbled into the modern world and reshaped the meaning of cosmopolitanism.

32 photographs

Print length

496 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

November 2, 2015
Dimensions

5.5 x 1.2 x 8.3 inches
ISBN-10

0393351866
ISBN-13

978-0393351866
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Superb―deliciously dense with detail and sheer narrative force as Charles King tells the twentieth-century history of the Near East through the prism of one great city. A sepia-toned classic!"
― Robert D. Kaplan, New York Times bestselling author of The Revenge of Geography

"Popular history at its best, authoritative and hugely entertaining. Few places were as colorful as Istanbul between the wars and Professor King captures all the chaotic brio and contradictions of a city, and a culture, reinventing itself."
― Joseph Kanon, New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Berlin

"In this memorably distilled history, Charles King tells us just what the Pera Palace was―the ornately decaying hotel crouched at the center of a mare’s nest of intrigue, violence, sex, and espionage, all set against the slow dimming of Ottoman magnificence. I loved this book."
― Simon Winchester, bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman

"This social history of one of the world’s most fascinating cities is as illuminating as it is entertaining. Characters from Trotsky to Hemingway, from a blind Armenian musician to a future pope, help tell the story of how Istanbul transformed itself from a refugee-clogged backwater into a vibrant metropolis. Midnight at the Pera Palace is a true Turkish delight."
― Stephen Kinzer, author of Poisoner in Chief and Crescent & Star

"[A]n engaging, detailed look at the old city that became the newest of them all in the interwar years."
― Melissa Davis, Seattle Times

"Elegant… multiple biographies unfold against the backdrop of an old city’s growing pains."
― Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe

"Fascinating and perceptive."
― Randy Dotinga, Christian Science Monitor

About the Author

Charles King is a professor of international affairs and government at Georgetown University. A frequent media commentator on global issues, he is the author of Gods of the Upper Air, Odessa, Midnight in the Pera Palace, and other books. He lives in Washington, DC.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (November 2, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393351866
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393351866
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.08 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #193,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #50 in Turkey History (Books)
- #1,124 in Historical Study (Books)
- #4,518 in World History (Books)

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Charles King

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Charles King is the author of eight books, including the New York Times-bestselling GODS OF THE UPPER AIR, winner of the Francis Parkman Prize and the Anisfield-Wolf Award, and finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award and the Los Angeles Times history prize; MIDNIGHT AT THE PERA PALACE, a New York Times Editors' Choice; and ODESSA: GENIUS AND DEATH IN A CITY OF DREAMS, winner of a National Jewish Book Award. A native of the Ozark Mountains, King studied history and politics at the University of Arkansas and Oxford University, where he was a British Marshall Scholar. He is Professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University. Author photo by Mary Fecteau.

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4.4 out of 5

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JEDrury

Superb history, read it before your visit to Istanbul.

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2014

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Charles King's modus operandi in history writing is deep research, tied to superb story telling by portraying interesting persons or momentous events centering them as the foundations for each chapter. He achieved this successful construct in his 2012 book "Odessa," he repeats it in his newest book "Midnight At The Pera Palace." Subtitled "The Birth of Modern Istanbul," the book's dust jacket cover showing a group of frolicking, tuxedo-clad men should not mask the growing emergence of a palpable ugliness in twentieth century Turkish history.

The book's timeline starts in the late nineteenth century through the end of World War Two. King's random cameos run from the emancipation of women, Istanbul's jazz music scene, the influx of Russians post October, 1917, the political ascendency of Ataturk, the birth of socialist nationalism, Istanbul's web of spies and Turkey's complicated and obstructionist role in the transshipment of fleeing Jews out of Eastern Europe (Romania and Bulgaria) to Palestine at the late stages of the War.

King delves into the back channels of twentieth century European history, areas not read in most books; Nizim Hikmet, Turkey's Marxist poet, the beauty, Keriman Halis, Turkey's Miss Universe of 1932, Ira Hirschmann, a courageous American meddler who headed up the War Refugee Board, and Angelo Guiseppe Roncelli, the papal apostolic delegate in Istanbul (soon to be Pope John XXIII, soon to be Saint). He recounts the modernization of the Hagia Sophia and the exquisite park which divides it from the Blue Mosque. His palette is full of these colorful stories; all describing the emergence of a new secular Turkey.

As the book ends, he reveals the ugliness of Turkish discrimination against the Armenians, the Greeks and the Jews and its 1942 wealth tax against their property; against the Armenians, "232 percent of their property's real value, 179 percent for Jews, and 156 percent for Greeks while Muslims were assessed at just under 5 percent."

Charles King, a professor at Georgetown University, is a superb writer, poetic in parts but always dispassionate and objective. The book has two important Istanbul maps tied to many of the events written about, a smattering of old black and white photos and a slew of interesting footnotes at the back for future reference.

5 people found this helpful

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John from Cape Town

An essential and enriching read for anyone visiting Istanbul

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2015

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My first visit to Istanbul last year was enough to show me that under the veneer that is Istanbul today there has to be a rich explanatory history of clashes and meldings of cultures, nationalities, religions and peoples. I found many of these explanations in Midnight at the Pera Palace. I returned to the city recently during the 2015 elections (during which time I finished the book) which surely mark a new crossroad in Turkey and Istanbul's history. We watched the sunset from the terrace of the Pera Palace, a rich experience for anyone who has enjoyed the book as much as I did. We saw no spies (or perhaps we did?).
In the second part of the book, the author reveals meticulous detail of the inhumanity and desperation of Jewish refugee migration during WW2 via the essential conduit of Istanbul en route to Palestine. What is so disturbing is how in today's deeply troubled world - and particularly in this region - we again have the abject misery of refugees and migrants fleeing injustice, persecution and war. It seems that generations of humankind are unable to learn lessons from the cruel mistakes of previous generations. This realisation made the read all the more poignant. Authors like Charles King do us great service in helping us to understand and learn from history.

3 people found this helpful

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Victor L

Excellent for a variety of interests

Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2020

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The book is purportedly a history of Istanbul in the first half of the twentieth history from the vantage of a particular physical landmark, but that is really not a fair description of this work. Due to Istanbul's location and the march of international and Turkish politics the book touches a good deal on Western Europe, Russia/Soviet Union, Palestine, and the conversion of a city into a cosmopolitan center The chapters are arranged both chronologically and by subject very smoothly. A few Amazon reviewers found this book difficult to read, although that was not my experience. I had trouble putting the book down to deal with the inconveniences of eating and sleeping. It is well-written and deals with each topic separately and completely before moving to the next.
It is an excellent book for people who have visited and enjoyed Istanbul, or those who have an interest in European history of that era, or those who have an interest in the escape of European Jews to Palestine, or those who may be interested in Leon Trotsky's time as Soviet exile in Turkey, or for those who may be interested in the sociology of a population moving rapidly into modernity. I recommend the book highly.

3 people found this helpful

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hilal isler

thoroughly-researched

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2018

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i'm giving this five stars because it is a text that's been constructed carefully, powered by a great deal of research. but i can't go without mentioning the author's tacit bias. there is an insidious (maybe completely unconscious, on the author's part, i don't know!) sort of belittlement...these judgements passed on muslims, on the turks...what i would consider to be hurtful acts of microaggression. as a turkish american reader, each snide word-choice stung me. i felt it all. there were moments i had to take a break, to physically take a break, put the book down, to try and let go of the hurt.

another reviewer, downthread, explains it like so: "If you already think the Turks are murderous, lecherous, drunken Islamo-fascists, then you will love this book...(the author) writes about the Turks destroying their beautiful things, killing each other, being afraid of minorities, and not practicing 'real' Islam...He sounds like an old southern man talking about African Americans in a place where African Americans are the majority but he's rooting for the couple thousand people of any other race who happen to be there."

five stars for the research, the writing. zero for the lack of heart, balance...for the strangely bigoted *white-man-racist* take on istanbul and the turkish people.

32 people found this helpful

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Tamara

fascinating

Reviewed in France on May 12, 2020

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this is a fascinating historical work! There is so much information about Istanbul in the early 20th century. The book is divided in several chapters which you can read separately. The author is extremely knowledgable, there was a lot of research in the making of this work.
By reading this, you learn so much about Istanbul: music, jazz, modernisation, the first miss Turkey, the becoming of Turkey with the rise of Ataturk etc.

Nane

an alternative perspective to 20s Istanbul

Reviewed in Germany on December 2, 2017

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It's a great read. The stories are amazing and interesting. As an Istanbul native, I really enjoyed the alternative historical perspective to the urban life in Istanbul. You can really imagine how the city back in the 1920s enjoyed life while building a new nation. Highly recommended

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marsha l. reid

Absolutely loved it! A mesmerizing history of the birth of modern Turkey

Reviewed in Canada on April 21, 2016

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Charles King has written beautiful, mesmerizing history of the birth of modern Turkey utilizing the Peral Palace Hotel in Instanbul as the focal point for relating this fascinating period of Turkey.

He is very skilled at sketching intimate portraits of the key personalities who shaped modern Turkey, the neighbourhoods of Instanbul and its diverse ethnic groups, not to mention Pera Palace itself and weaving these details into a broader narrative of cultural and political change. He captures the pride and excitement that Turks felt as they forged a new identity and country but also the suffering of those who lost out - Turkey's ethnic minorities - Jews, Armenians, Kurds, Christians and Greeks.

I could imagine myself sitting with him in the lounge of the Pera Palace Hotel while over drinks, him pointing out who comes in and out - that person is a former Russian Prince in exile from the Bolshevik Revolution; this person is a wealthy Armenian merchant; so and so is rumored to be a British spy, gossiping about the latest nightclubs and of course political intrigues.

Can't recommend enough.

One person found this helpful

P. J. Connolly

Istanbul in Transition

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2015

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This is a wonderfully evocative book that captures Istanbul between the wars. The City was evolving from the cosmopolitan capital of the Ottoman Empire to a far more Turkish city that remained commercially important but was no longer the centre of political life in the new Kemalist Republic. Looked out through a series of themes each chapter reviews a facet of the city's existence as the story moves through the interwar years and on into the second world war. The idea of using the story of the Pera Palace Hotel as a symbol of the wider Istanbul works surprisingly well.

Istanbul's geographic position straddling the boundary between Europe and Asia has always given it a strategic and commercial importance but there are periods when it has witnessed great events, either directly, or as a consequence of its position. The story of Turkey's emergence from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire is well told and familiar but the development of Turkey over the remaining twenty or so years of Ataturk's life is less familiar to western readers. Turkey was fortunate to remain neutral during the second world war but it was a centre of intrigue and a beacon of often ambiguous refuge for those fleeing the conflict.

It all has an extra resonance because once again Turkey and Istanbul are once again witnessing tectonic plate changing times as the chaos in Syria and Iraq make their consequences felt. With militant Islam on the move again it is interesting to read how Ataturk pulled Turkey in a resolutely secular and nationalist direction. The present day Turkish Government is still trying to reconcile these different currents.

Equally Turkey is again a reluctant host to a mass of refugees, just as it was in the period covered by the book. Then it was Russians fleeing the Soviets or Turks driven out of their ancestral homes and forced to go to Turkey or later a further movement of refugees, especially Jews, fleeing the Nazis and their allies. We sometimes forget, amidst the plethora of screaming headlines, that mass emigration has always been with us even if the direction and nature of the refugees changes. It is a pity we seem unable to take a more nuanced view that recognises that often recipient countries end up being a beneficiary at the expenses of the countries where the refugees originated.

Just as these events saw the diminution of Turkey's own minorities as Greeks, Armenians and Jews suffered discrimination at the hands of the new Republic and were encouraged to leave so we see history repeating itself in Iraq and Syria as their minority communities are uprooted and forced abroad.

This Book shows clearly how Istanbul has changed as its population mix, size and importance changed irrevocably. To-day's Istanbul is a very different place to that of the book when it really was a city in transition in all respects but that period was the last time when it was recognisably what it had been. Now the developments since the war have obliterated much of the city's past and put it on a new path.

The Author has a deep knowledge of his subject and conveys a complex story in a clear, interesting and insightful way. Very easy and rewarding to read. Thoroughly recommended.

10 people found this helpful

Maggie Wildblood

Thia is a this well-researched, well-written and engaging book ...

Reviewed in Australia on February 24, 2015

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Thia is a this well-researched, well-written and engaging book. King makes history, which can often be dry and uninteresting, leap off the page.

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