The sweeping 6,000-year story of Istanbul

A biography of one of the world’s greatest cities – Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul.

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 author 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.

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.

Bettany Hughes is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster. Her previous books “Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore” and “The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the search for the Good Life”, were published to great critical acclaim and worldwide success. Hughes has made a number of factual films and documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, PBS, National Geographic, Discovery, The History Channel and ABC. She is a Research Fellow of King’s College London and has been honoured with numerous awards including the Norton Medlicott Medal for History.

Istanbul by Bettany Hughes (published by Hachette Australia) is available now from Dymocks. Click here to learn more.