Istanbul: The Imperial City

I read this while exploring Istanbul- made history come more alive while I was there and, while not a travel guide, has useful info on important sites in the city in an appendix.

This is one of the few books that both covers the complete history of Constantinople/Byzantium/Istanbul and at the same time serves as an excellent travel guide. The list and description of Istanbul's monuments and churches helped me immensly as I visited the city last month. The book does not go into enough depth on any of the historical subjects but is a great overview of the city's history.

John Freely's book "Istanbul," takes a look at the city from its founding by Greek colonists, to the mordern day. Freely is an eloquent writer who places particular emphasis on the location of the city as it stands astride the Bosphorous strait and the Golden Horn. The history is in depth and informative, with both major and minor events chronicled in this book. Freely draws the reader in with a wonderful history. In the final section of this book, he has written a mini-guidebook, which features what, where, and how of what to see in Istanbul.

"Istanbul" is a wonderful introduction to a fabulous city. An easy read, it follows the trajectory of the city's fabled history in a smooth chronological rhythm with each period captured in quickie chapters of fifteen pages. It works as an introductory history with 300 pages of chronology, and it works as a travel guide with 60 cross-referenced pages on monuments and museums. A great primer for anyone planning a trip to the city and interested in its history, presented in a readable format somewhere between quick overview and master's degree. The city maps in the early pages are excellently designed, and frequent illustrations are used to good effect. Nevertheless, while the brevity of the chronology makes it an easy read, it also precludes the development of any real historical themes. There is no deep thought here, no new views or insightful analysis, and after several dozen emperors and sultans emerge and die in repetitive procession, they begin to blur a bit one into the next. While the birth and paroxysms of the Ottoman Empire are well-presented from Istanbul's perspective, this reader could have used a few maps of southeast Europe and the Levant to better understand the empire's development. At the same time, events in Istanbul are not presented in the context of contemporary European events. While this certainly helps to keep the chapters quick and readable, it also ignores the huge impact of European events on Istanbul: the Great Schism and massive changes in Rome, conflicts with Austro-Hungary, the crusades, etc. are simply not presented even to frame events in Istanbul. The history and research are excellent (with one tiny quibble: the battle of Kosovo Polje occurred on June 28, not June 15) but broad rather than deep. Freely is clearly at home in the city and with the source material.

A great travel guide and quickie history, readable and accessible.

I read this book last summer before a trip to visit friends in Istanbul. I found the book to be a well-written and entertaining narrative on this fascinating city. While at the Iskele restaurant in Istanbul, one of my dining companions mentioned that he knew an American expert on Istanbul and that he was sitting two tables behind me. I asked him who it was, and he replied "John Freely." My friend took me over to introduce me to Mr. Freely, and I got a picture with him.