Istanbul: City of Majesty at the Crossroads of the World Hardcover – November 22, 2016

This wonderful book makes reading history fun. This delicious travelogue of a 358-page book is an easy-to-read jewel that is as insightful, pedagogical, and pleasurable as it is suspenseful. This book is a feast for the reader's mind and imagination.Professor Thomas F. Madden's packing of thousands of years of history, from the Byzantion's of 667 BC to AD 330 to today's Istanbul, into this book exhibits his masterful telling of infinitely complex and profoundly rich history. The exquisitely told details of Byzantion, Byzantine Constantinople, Ottoman Constantinople, and today's Istanbul, make history come alive, rendering this precious book a page-turner. It's a feat of extraordinary writing by Professor Madden that enabled me to understand modern Turkey, in general, and Istanbul, in particular, a little better.I fell in love with Hagia Sophia from the first time I saw television images of it years ago. This book helped me appreciate it and love it even more. Regardless of whether it reverts back to a grand mosque (perhaps remotely likely) or a magnificent basilica (impossibly unlikely), or remain a marvelous museum (most assuredly), I shall visit it in my lifetime, as I have already done with other places on my bucket list, including St. Peter's Basilica and La Sagrada Familia.Hagia Sophia, as perhaps the quintessential symbol of Byzantine Constantinople, Ottoman Constantinople and today's Istanbul, provides insights into today's geopolitical dynamism in the "Middle East". Professor Madden writes: "Members of the AK [Justice and Development] Party have repeatedly discussed turning Hagia Sophia back into a mosque. Indeed, demonstrations calling for the restorations erupted outside the ancient structure in 2014 and 2015, and are likely to continue."Turkey, a long-time member of the U.N. and a seasoned member of NATO and seeking to become an EU member, has a modern, sophisticated and disciplined military and whose readiness likely surpasses that of Germany's -- if recent reports of Germany's sorry state of readiness are true. In short, this book provides foundational understandings of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkey."The City", as Professor Madden notes in the last page of this page, is "Too important to abandon, too strategic to avoid, too beautiful to resist, Istanbul long drew to it the peoples of the Mediterranean, muddled them together in the streets and markets, and produced a community that is ever changing. Its strength was never solely in its mighty walls or its well-trained militaries, but in the determination of its inhabitants to hold firm to it no matter that cost."I'd recommend this book to anyone who in interested in current world events.

A fascinating read that holds the key to understanding Europe and Central Asia. This book made me pay for the flight! A visit to Istanbul was on my bucket list already, but reading it was an experience in itself - a cultural immersion and a revelation on many levels. I was spellbound by the magnificence of the city once I visited. One really needs historic context in order to understand human creativity in its fullness. Istanbul has many faces and bloomed over two thousand years according to regional warfare and peace agreements, which determined its riches and poverty. Its position on the Bosporus and lay out across two continents give it significance. What a place for economic growth, art and science. I regret I was not there in person, when it reached its prime culturally - or perhaps genetically I was, how come I was so absorbed page after page ?

I needed background on Istanbul in advance of a planned trip. Other books I'd seen were too crowded with information on specific places--this book provided the "long view" in easy to read prose.

Fascinating!! Reasonably easy read. I knew almost nothing about Istanbul and loved this book.

This is a FABULOUS book about Istanbul covering the entire history of the city in a sparkling and dazzling narrative. Historian Thomas F. Madden has done an incredible job compiling the history of the city into a mere 358 pages. It is beautifully written and hard to put down. He spent more than twenty years working on the book and his patience and efforts show. He has truly written a noteworthy book from the heart, and it is obvious that he has lived and breathed the city.Madden divides the book into four parts: Byzantion (667 BC-AD330), Byzantine Constantinople (330-1453), Ottoman Constantinople (1453-1923) and finally Istanbul (1923-2016). He provides maps of the city that are helpful and does an excellent job surveying each period— the Ottoman period too! (Thank you Mr. Madden and your publisher Penguin Random House for doing the Ottomans justice by giving an accurate portrayal of their history— a rare find these days sadly!) The city has a rich Christian Greco-Roman history that is well documented here too. He also gives a wonderful introduction into Modern Turkey, beginning with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the incredible hero who galvanized the nation and formed a constitutional republic after the First World War— the first in the Muslim world.I LOVED this book and wholeheartedly recommend it to anybody who loves the city or wants to learn more about it and its history. I don’t think anyone can truly understand world history without knowing the history of Istanbul.“Istanbul located at the junction of two great worlds, the ornament of the Turkish nation, the treasure of Turkish history, the dearest object of the Turkish nation, has a place in the heart of every Turk.”Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Founder of Turkey

Since I was a child,this silly song would run through my subconscious from time to time.For a few years, my husband and I have been planning to make a trip to this wonderful city of mystery and I bought this book with the intention of going beyond the travel guides to find out not just what we would see but why it was there.The author has fully satisfied my curiosity by patiently layering Byzantium, Constantinople and, then, Istanbul in such a way that you can see it, smell it and almost taste it.We feel fully prepared to get the maximum from our journey.I recommend this book to travelers who want more than ticking off a box on their bucket list.