“These events became legends before they were history. The onslaughts and heroism and desperate escapes introduce us to a recurring theme in Istanbul’s history, that this is a city that lives a double life–as a real place and as a story.” Bettany Hughes
If you are planning to visit Istanbul and want to read about it, here is a beautiful book for you written by a prominent British historian Bettany Hughes. As a historian, a lover of Istanbul and a traveler who has been to Istanbul time and again throughout the years, Hughes has written an incredibly rich book on the three layers of Istanbul. Starting from the Greek city Byzantium to the Roman city of Constantinople and then finally to the Ottoman city of Istanbul, Hughes has covered the rich cultural heritage of the city with all its grandeur and tragedies. If you are curious about the multilayered and multifaceted city of Istanbul, Hughes’s book is a great start for unravelling the mysteries of this majestic city.
Louise Callaghan in Sunday Times (2017) talks about the book with the following words:
‘With a broadcaster’s delight, Bettany Hughes…throws herself into the gargantuan task of capturing the history of a city that spans 3,000 years, and whose story has been woefully neglected compared with other great urban centres…Hughes reconstructs Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul as living, breathing landscapes…her scholarship is impressive…her enthusiasm radiates…Her subject…is irresistibly rich. The place known simply as “The City”, Hughes notes, has long lived a “double life – as a real place and as a story”…The tale she tells of the metropolis at the crossroads of the Earth is textured, readable and often compelling.’
And here is a lovely interview with the writer who is fascinated with the legend and history of our eternal city!
