'Life-filled and life-affirming history, steeped in romance and written with verve' GUARDIAN
'Richly entertaining and impeccably researched' Peter Frankopan
Istanbul has always been a place where stories and histories collide and crackle, where the idea is as potent as the historical fact. From the Qu'ran to Shakespeare, this city with three names - Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul - resonates as an idea and a place, and overspills its boundaries - real and imagined. Standing as the gateway between the East and West, it has served as the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman Empires. For much of its history it was known simply as The City, but, as Bettany Hughes reveals, Istanbul is not just a city, but a story.
In this epic new biography, Hughes takes us on a dazzling historical journey through the many incarnations of one of the world's greatest cities. As the longest-lived political entity in Europe, over the last 6,000 years Istanbul has absorbed a mosaic of micro-cities and cultures all gathering around the core. At the latest count archaeologists have measured forty-two human habitation layers. Phoenicians, Genoese, Venetians, Jews, Vikings, Azeris all called a patch of this earth their home. Based on meticulous research and new archaeological evidence, this captivating portrait of the momentous life of Istanbul is visceral, immediate and scholarly narrative history at its finest.
About the Author
Bettany Hughes’ first book ‘Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore’ has been translated into ten languages. Her second, ‘The Hemlock Cup, Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life’ was a New York Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the Writer’s Guild Award. Her book ‘Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities’ was shortlisted for the Runciman Award, was a Sunday Times bestseller, and has been translated into twelve languages. Her biography of a goddess ‘Venus & Aphrodite’ was also shortlisted for the Runciman Award. Hughes' latest book 'The Seven Wonders of the World' is already a best seller, receiving great critical acclaim. Hughes has written and presented over 50 TV and radio documentaries. Her programmes have now been seen by over 250 million worldwide. Hughes has received awards including the Naomi Sargent Education Prize for Broadcast Excellence, the Norton Medicott Medal for services to History, and an OBE for services to history.
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