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  • Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities

  • Written by: Bettany Hughes
  • Narrated by: Bettany Hughes
  • Length: 24 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (10 ratings)

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Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities

Written by: Bettany Hughes
Narrated by: Bettany Hughes
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Publisher's Summary

Istanbul has long been a place where stories and histories collide, where perception is as potent as fact. From the Koran to Shakespeare, this city with three names - Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul - resonates as an idea and a place, real and imagined. Standing as the gateway between East and West, North and South, it has been the capital city of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires. For much of its history it was the very center of the world, known simply as "The City," but, as Bettany Hughes reveals, Istanbul is not just a city, but a global story.

In this epic new biography, Hughes takes us on a dazzling historical journey from the Neolithic to the present, through the many incarnations of one of the world's greatest cities - exploring the ways that Istanbul's influence has spun out to shape the wider world. Hughes investigates what it takes to make a city and tells the story not just of emperors, viziers, caliphs, and sultans, but of the poor and the voiceless, of the women and men whose aspirations and dreams have continuously reinvented Istanbul. Written with energy and animation, award-winning historian Bettany Hughes deftly guides listeners through Istanbul's rich layers of history.

Based on meticulous research and new archaeological evidence, this captivating portrait of the momentous life of Istanbul is visceral, immediate, and authoritative - narrative history at its finest.

©2017 Bettany Hughes (P)2017 Hachette Audio

What the critics say

"A vibrant, sprawling portrait of a city as enigmatic as it is historically important...Hughes' entertaining narrative style with its visual details, dramatic archaeological discoveries, and cliffhanger chapter endings allows her erudition and exuberance to shine." (Booklist)

"Impressive. In Istanbul, Hughes plays intriguing, sophisticated games with time and space.... By making unlikely connections between well-described locations and events separated by eons, she gives voice to those witchy, diachronic feelings in a spectacular fashion." (The Economist)

"Hughes is not an argumentative historian. She avoids the debates of academe. She is a wistful and impassioned cosmopolitan who has produced a challenging story." (Financial Times)

What listeners say about Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities

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A good approachable history of Istanbul

A well-written and well performed history of the City of Istanbul from before its founding as Byzantion up to the modern era. The author Bethany Hughes reads the book herself, and does an excellent job bringing the work to life.

Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities does an excellent job of balancing a steadfast devotion to the historical narrative of the city with an engaging voice and reading. Though I approached the book with some prior knowledge, I believe that this book would be more than appropriate for someone with no pre-existing knowledge of the city's history. The narration is clear and well-performed.

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