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.
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Great on Kindle
Great Experience. Great Value.
Putting our best book forward
Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.
Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.
View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.
Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.
Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.
Get the free Kindle app: 
Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
$16.59
Get it as soon as Sunday, May 26
In Stock
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Similar items that may ship from close to you
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Reviews with images
Fabulously written, dazzlingly and responsibly told, the history of Istanbul comes alive...
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
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2018
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2017
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
Fabulously written, dazzlingly and responsibly told, the history of Istanbul comes alive...
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2017
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.Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2017
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
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2020
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2018
Top reviews from other countries
Atulya Sinha
A BOOK AS FASCINATING AS THE CITY ITSELF
Reviewed in India on March 22, 2020Gregory M. Burke
Very glad I read this book before my travels in Istanbul
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2018Amazon Customer
Informational and well written history of Istanbul
Reviewed in India on September 29, 2018