Istanbul: City of Majesty at the Crossroads of the World

by Thomas F. Madden

Overview

For more than two millennia Istanbul has stood at the crossroads of the world, perched at the very tip of Europe, gazing across at the shores of Asia. The history of this city—known as Byzantium, then Constantinople, now Istanbul—is at once glorious, outsized, and astounding. Founded by the Greeks, its location blessed it as a center for trade but also made it a target of every empire in history, from Alexander the Great and his Macedonian Empire, to the Romans and later the Ottomans.

At its most spectacular, Istanbul was re-founded by Emperor Constantine I as New Rome, the capital of the eastern Roman Empire. He dramatically expanded the city, filling it with artistic treasures, and adorning the streets with opulent palaces. Constantine built new walls around it all—walls that were truly impregnable and preserved power, wealth, and withstood any aggressor—walls that still stand for tourists to visit.

From its ancient past to the present, we meet the city through its ordinary citizens—the Jews, Muslims, Italians, Greeks, and Russians who used the famous baths and walked the bazaars, and the rulers who built it up and then destroyed it, including Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the man who christened the city "Istanbul" in 1930. Thomas Madden's entertaining narrative brings to life the city we see today, including the rich splendor of the churches and monasteries that spread throughout the city.

Istanbul draws on a lifetime of study and the latest scholarship, transporting readers to a city of unparalleled importance and majesty that holds the key to understanding modern civilization. In the words of Napoleon Bonaparte, "If the Earth were a single state, Istanbul would be its capital."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780698140585
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/22/2016
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Thomas F. Madden is Professor of History and Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University. As an author and historical consultant he appears in such venues as The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and The History Channel. He has written and lectured extensively on the ancient and medieval Mediterranean as well as the history of Christianity and Islam. Awards for his scholarship include the Medieval Academy of America's Haskins Medal and the Medieval Institute's Otto Grundler Prize. He is a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Medieval Academy of America, and author of, most recently, Venice: A New History.

Table of Contents

Maps xii

Preface xv

Part I Byzantion (667 BC-AD 330)

Chapter 1 Across from the City of the Blind 3

Chapter 2 Bread for Athens 16

Chapter 3 Romans Bearing Gifts 30

Chapter 4 Ruin and Survival 44

Part II Byzantine Constantinople (330-1453)

Chapter 5 Founding a New Rome 61

Chapter 6 Baptized Capital 76

Chapter 7 East of the Fall of Rome 89

Chapter 8 City of Justinian 103

Chapter 9 Surviving the Middle Ages 119

Chapter 10 Byzantine Plots 131

Chapter 11 Dining with Barbarians 144

Chapter 12 Treasure and Treachery 161

Chapter 13 Blind Men 177

Chapter 14 Latin Occupation 200

Chapter 15 Life Among the Ruins 220

Chapter 16 Empire's End 235

Part III Ottoman Constantinople (1453-1923)

Chapter 17 The Spiders Curtain 251

Chapter 18 City of Suleiman the Magnificent 263

Chapter 19 The Sultanate of Women 280

Chapter 20 Return of the West 295

Chapter 21 Sick Man of Europe 312

Chapter 22 Empire's End, Again 327

Part IV Istanbul (1923-2016)

Chapter 23 Becoming Modern 341

Acknowledgments 359

Notes 361

Further Reading 365

Index 369

Editorial Reviews

10/31/2016
In this fast-paced account of Europe’s largest city, Madden (Venice: A New History), director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at St. Louis University, recounts how Istanbul gained its status as “a meeting place and a battlefield for cultures.” Founded by Greeks as Byzantium in 667 B.C.E., it served as a kind of urban bridge between Asia and Europe. As Constantinople, it became the eastern center of Christianity until it was conquered by the Ottomans in 1453. Thereafter, it was, until the modern period, a strikingly cosmopolitan place, about 40% non-Muslim in 1700, with significant populations of Greek Orthodox, Jews, and Armenian Christians. Madden adroitly describes the succession of the often bloodthirsty rulers of premodern Constantinople, including Murad III (who ordered the strangulation of his five brothers in 1574), as well as health crises, such as the bubonic plague epidemic of 542 that claimed an average of 5,000 lives per day. Unfortunately, Madden races through the city’s modern period, from the Young Turks’ 1909 uprising to the 21st century, including a mere paragraph on the anti-Greek riot of September 1955 that caused most of Istanbul’s remaining Greeks to flee the city. This flaw aside, Madden succinctly captures the city’s often key role in global political and religious history. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Istabul
 
“A wonderfully vivid and clear account . . . [Madden is] a skilled narrator, negotiating the twists and turns in the city’s destiny.”
—The Economist
 
“A natural teacher, Madden packs most of the city’s past into a short, readable volume in which each era is brought alive by punchy anecdotes with vivid sketches of people and locations.”
—The Economist's 1843 magazine

“Condensing Istanbul’s history in a single volume is a daunting challenge; the book is a great success, and one with no lack of drama. . . . Even the careless reader will be much enlightened by the book, as good an introduction to Istanbul and its splendors as one could hope to have.”
—National Review
 
“A major 'biography' of a city at the center of the world, Madden documents the history of the place that has been home to Greeks and Ottomans, Muslims and Jews, the ancient world and the society of the future.”
—Time

“A comprehensive and illuminating account of this remarkable city . . . brought together ‘into one enjoyable and clear narrative.’ There’s a great deal to gain from reading this book.” 
—PopMatters
 
“Vivid . . . Madden’s insights into Istanbul’s religious and political history reminds us that world politics is rife with complex questions: Who came first? Who built enduring cities? Who survived? Who vanished? And where do we go from here?”
—Booklist

“Astonishing . . . An illuminating journey through the history and culture of the metropolis that 'still towers over all other cities in Europe and the Middle East.'”
—Kirkus Reviews 

“[A] fast-paced account of Europe’s largest city . . . Madden succinctly captures the city’s often key role in global political and religious history.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“No place has had a better claim than Istanbul to being the historical center of our planet—capital to multiple empires, a focal point of Christianity and Islam, and now a global transport and commercial hub. Writing with verve and sympathy, Thomas F. Madden weaves scholarship, travel, and literature into a compelling narrative of crushing loss and unexpected renewal.”
—Charles King, author of Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul

“There may be other cities as majestic and rich in history as Istanbul, but few have been blessed with such a chronicler. Istanbul takes us on a wild ride through a landscape populated by explorers, lascivious empresses, popes, crusaders, conquerors, and sultans. It's almost as much fun as actually visiting.”
—Stephen Kinzer, author of Crescent and Star: Turkey between two worlds

From the Publisher

10/01/2016
Over the centuries, the city of Istanbul has had many names, among them Byzantium, New Rome, and Constantinople. Today, Istanbul is a vibrant, economically prosperous, and energetic city of nearly 15 million inhabitants that straddles the Bosphorus Strait, positioning it in both Europe and Asia. Istanbul remains Europe's largest city and one of the most thickly populated metropolitan entities in the world. In this erudite but accessible book, Madden (medieval history, Saint Louis Univ.; The Concise History of the Crusades) describes the historical evolution of Istanbul from its origin to the present day, informing how different cultures, ethnicities, and religions have stitched the fabric of this genuinely multicultural city. In the process, the author vividly demonstrates how Istanbul, founded by the Greeks, became the target of multiple empires for more than two millennia. Madden allows readers to experience Istanbul through its varied inhabitants as well as the rulers who built, and sometimes destroyed, this megalopolis. VERDICT Students of history and general readers alike will benefit from the insight and vignettes presented in this fascinating narrative.—Nader Entessar, Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile

Library Journal

2016-09-19
The author of Venice: A New History (2012) returns with the astonishing and sanguinary story of the iconic city on the Bosporus.Madden (Director, Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies/St. Louis Univ.) begins by noting the obvious: no text can possibly contain the sprawling story of Istanbul. Undaunted, he begins in 667 B.C.E. and whisks us along through the centuries, ending with current times, still a city at the crossroads of the world. Dominating the text are tales of empire, war, commerce, and religious strife and wrenching accounts of brutality: ambitious family members murdering one another in the quest for power; invaders slaughtering others by the thousands, raping, looting, and sacking. Madden is fond of the city, however (he has been there numerous times), and generally reserves judgment as he soars along, only occasionally bogging down in detailed accounts of battles and internecine nastiness. He does spend time telling us about the design and construction of some buildings that remainand some that do not. We learn about the lack of urban design that characterized the city for centuries and its once-hopeless infrastructure; about the voice of Mark Twain saying that the city was best when viewed from a distance; and about customs occasioned by location and religion. (The author offers an enlightening section on harem life.) Madden, who prefers description and explication and narration to judgment and condemnation, explores the religious conflictse.g., the split between Christianity (East and West) and the rise of Islam. We also witness the extraordinary, even grotesque, lengths to which men have gone to achieve wealth and power. In our own day, Madden views the rise of nationalism as a new worry for the city, as well as the enduring religious conflicts that seem likely only to intensify. An illuminating journey through the history and culture of the metropolis that still towers over all other cities in Europe and the Middle East.

Kirkus Reviews