Review by Choice Review
The three cities constituting the subtitle of Hughes's book are Byzantion, Constantinople, and modern Istanbul, all on the same site. First was Byzantion, a colony of the Greek city of Megara, which was sandwiched between Corinth and Athens. Second was Constantinople, founded on the site by Constantine, who converted to Christianity and united the Roman Empire, in that order. It retained the name even after the Turks conquered it in 1453, and an Ottoman sultan and (after 1517) "caliph of Islam" ruled there from the Topkapi Palace until 1924, when the last of them was packed off on the Orient Express to exile in Paris. Kemal Ataturk moved Turkey's capital to Ankara; Constantinople became Istanbul; and, as Hughes (King's College London) puts it, the "caliphate became redundant" by the authority of Turkey's new Grand National Assembly. The book offers a readable tour of it all from the prehistoric to the Erdoan government and the attempted coup of 2016. The fifth-century BCE Greco-Persian war, the emperor Justinian's reign a thousand years later, the rise of the Ottoman Empire and Greece's breakaway from it, and much else are part of the story. Hughes is learned and her text readable. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General, public, and undergraduate libraries. --James A. S. Evans, University of British Columbia
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by New York Times Review
ENEMIES AND NEIGHBORS: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017, by Ian Black. (Atlantic Monthly, $30.) Black, a veteran correspondent for The Guardian, argues in this sweeping history that Zionism and Palestinian nationalism were irreconcilable from the start, and that peace is as remote as ever. THE KING IS ALWAYS ABOVE THE PEOPLE: Stories, by Daniel Alarcon. (Riverhead Books, $27.) The stories in this slim, affecting work of fiction feature young men in various states of displacement after dictatorship yields to fragile democracy in an unnamed country. Alarcon, who also happens to be a gifted journalist, couples narrative experimentation with imaginative empathy. TEXAS BLOOD: Seven Generations Among the Outlaws, Ranchers, Indians, Missionaries, Soldiers, and Smugglers of the Borderlands, by Roger D. Hodge. (Knopf, $28.95.) Hodge's fervent pastiche of memory and reportage and history tells the story of South Texas as it intersects with generations of his ancestors. SOLAR BONES, by Mike McCormack. (Soho Press, $25.) A civil engineer sits in his kitchen feeling inexplicably disoriented, as if untethered from the world. In fact, he is dead, a ghost, even if he does not realize it. This wonderfully original book owes a debt to modernism but is up to something all its own. ISTANBUL: A Tale of Three Cities, by Bettany Hughes. (Da Capo, $40.) A British scholar known for her popular television documentaries shows readers how a prehistoric settlement evolved through the centuries into a great metropolis, the crossroads where East meets West. THE WRITTEN WORLD: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization, by Martin Puchner. (Random House, $32.) Puchner, an English professor at Harvard, makes the case for literature's pervasive importance as a force that has shaped the societies we have built and our very sensibilities as human beings. THE FLOATING WORLD, by C. Morgan Babst. (Algonquin, $26.95.) An inescapable, almost oppressive sense of loss permeates each page of this powerful debut novel about a mixed-race New Orleans family in the days after Hurricane Katrina. As an elegy for a ruined city, it is infused with soulful details. ROBICHEAUX, by James Lee Burke. (Simon & Schuster, $27.99.) The Iberia Parish sheriff's detective tangles with mob bosses and crooked politicians in this latest installment in a crime series steeped in the history and lore of the Louisiana bayous. THREE FLOORS UP, by Eshkol Nevo. (Other Press, paper, $16.95.) Three linked novellas about life in an Israeli apartment building capture the lies we tell ourselves and others in order to construct identity. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 30, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Hughes (The Hemlock Cup, 2011) presents a vibrant, sprawling portrait of a city as enigmatic as it is historically important. The diamond beside the Bosphorus, the metropolis that emerged in antiquity as Byzantium, was for centuries the heart of the known world, a knot binding East and West, and a bastion of culture and commerce, cosmopolitanism and military might. As Constantinople, it carried the imperial banner for a thousand years after Rome's collapse, weathering both Muslim and Crusader incursions, the key to its resilience is its ability to change as demanded by circumstances. Today, modern Istanbul stretches 100 miles from end to end and contains more people than two-thirds of the world's nations, and if it no longer ranks as chief among the world's cities, it remains a vital crucible in which the challenges of the future are already emerging. Hughes, a best-selling author perhaps most visible for her BBC broadcast work, emphasizes Istanbul's mutability, messiness, and the myths of exotic otherness it has inspired. Violence, revolt, and conquest have shaped the city's trajectory, she suggests, but so too have strong women, foreigners, slaves, eunuchs, and above all, stories. Hughes' entertaining narrative style, with its visual details, dramatic archaeological discoveries, and cliffhanger chapter endings, allows her erudition and exuberance to shine.--Driscoll, Brendan Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Author, filmmaker, and documentarian Hughes (Helen of Troy; The Hemlock Cup) demonstrates a passionate and keen eye for detail in her newest book covering the history of Istanbul from its classical origins to the modern era. Despite its heft and tendency to delve into so much nuance that even the diet of Constantinople's citizens in the late 900s CE is shared, this work is eminently readable and thorough. Hughes balances especially well a study of one city with the commentary of greater time periods and historic events taking place simultaneously around the world; the rich, cultural, religious, and social presence of Istanbul's complex tale lends itself as an excellent focus. VERDICT A timely work, given current events, and a powerful testimony to Istanbul's impact on culture, society, and religion over time. Historians and lay readers alike will find this a welcome addition.-Elizabeth Zeitz, Otterbein Univ. Lib., Westerville, OH © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A deeply researched biography of a legendary city, beginning in prehistory.For the past four decades, historian and documentary filmmaker Hughes (Research Fellow/King's Coll. London; The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens, and the Search for the Good Life, 2011, etc.) has had what she calls "a love affair" with Istanbul. Her fascination with the city inspired prodigious research as well as travels throughout the Arab world, Central Asia, and Europe as she engaged in "an archaeology of both place and culture" to chronicle the city's evolution from Byzantium to Constantinople to Istanbul. Located on the Bosporus, the strait dividing Asia and Europe, in each iteration the city was the center of a coveted trade route, a strategic geopolitical nexus, and a religious mecca for "the world's most tenacious theocracies," most notably Sunni Islam. Hughes argues that the city's development was fueled not only by commercial and political motivations, but also by humans' "fundamental desire to share ideas." Religion was prominent among those ideas: in the seventh century, "stakes in the religious game were being raised," and tolerance among Jews, Christians, and Muslims broke down. Soon, leaders in Muslim territories and Christians in Constantinople engaged in "wars of propaganda and faith." Power was another idea: commerce in the city included the trade in humans, both as sex slaves and to provide labor after devastating population loss caused by the Black Death in the 14th century. The slave trade flourished, with women "particularly active as dealers." Many slaves became farm laborers, and the most appealing male and female slaves were pressed into household or harem service. The harem, meaning "sanctuary," became a site where dynasties and alliances were nurtured. Hughes vividly details both the reality of the harem and its fantastical rendering by Western writers as a place of wonder, licentiousness, and sexual desire. The author's history teems with individuals and events, sometimes overwhelming her usually lively narrative, especially once she focuses on the Ottoman Empire and its roiling succession of rulers. A panoramic cultural history of a fascinating place. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
