"Studies the reconstruction of Byzantine Constantinople as the capital city of the Ottoman empire following its capture in 1453, delineating the complex interplay of socio-political, architectural, visual, and literary processes that underlay the city's transformation"--Provided by publisher.

For over a thousand years, the medieval city of Constantinople has been the jewel on the crown of the Roman Empire. Now, the once-mighty metropolis is broken down, with its defensive walls in shambles. Long have the neighboring Turks wanted to claim the city, and Mehmet--the impetuous new Turkish sultan--thinks he and his legions might finally have their chance. In defiance of his late father's advisors, Mehmet vows to be the first leader in a millennium to wrench Constantinople from the Christians. He is determined to take the city from the weakened but beloved Emperor Constantine--even if he loses his throne and his life in the process. An epic historical military adventure, Constantinopolis plots out the future of civilization as shaped by a number of fascinating characters, including one leader desperate to save his people from destruction and another determined to lead his nation to glory. Revised edition: This edition of Constantinopolis includes editorial revisions.

This is not a book on archaeology, nor, although it lays particular stress on the architecture, an architectural history of Istanbul. It is an attempt to present the urban history of a world-city called Istanbul, Constantinople, Byzantion in different periods of its history. It delineates historical circumstances, or sudden ruptures, but above all, it attempts to present this unique world-city as experienced by its citizens and visitors, and as imagined by the world at large. While recent researches on the topography, history and monuments of the city are integrated in the text, my intention is to present the essence of the historical image of Istanbul contextually within physical, social and cultural framework. I have no intention of breaking new ground on the topography of the city, but I wish to convey the terms of a unique human experience in one of the longest surviving cities of the world, built in a most beautiful and enchanting landscape. The great Byzantine scholar R Janin speaks of various "visages" of the city composed through the rhythms of life or caprices of the emperors. Most of this intricate relationships created in millennia between men, site, and artifact are gone and difficult to visualize. In writing this urban history, while I try to remain objective, I know that I create a literary model using as reference the least changed of the historical elements, the surviving monuments, the site with its basic shape and articulations, and contemporary accounts -not necessarily sources of hard facts, but as primary expressions, reactions and emotions. Thus tryingto keep myself away, as far as possible, from speculation and methods of criminal fiction, I have delineated the history of this grandiose, dramatic and often cruel city of Istanbul.--.

The Ottoman Empire began in 1453 when Mehmed the Conqueror entered Constantinople on a white horse, and it ended in 1924 when the final sultan, Abdulmecid, hurriedly left on the Orient Express. This book gives an account of Constantinople and its ruling family.

In its transition from 18th century capital of the Ottoman Empire to economic powerhouse of the Turkish Republic, the city of Istanbul has been transformed beyond recognition. After the establishment of the Republic, Turkey increasingly turned to the West for ideas about how to create, shape and direct the development of a modern culture. This desire was felt most strongly in Istanbul, Turkey's most populous city. Its status as the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and later the economic hub of Turkey, made Istanbul a forum for the different regimes to display their political, ideological and social policies in the context of the built environment. Some modernisation policies never came to fruition - such as the unsuccessful late nineteenth century attempt by young Ottoman bureaucrats to initiate planning reforms at a time when the Empire was on the verge of collapse. The new Turkish Republic at first neglected the old Ottoman capital, and later attempted to make it conform to its secular political ideology. After World War II, Istanbul entered a new era in modernisation, with the Democratic Party government conducting a large scale re-design of Istanbul's urban form in order to show Turkey as a major political and economic force in post-war Europe and the Middle East. The scale of this modernisation process mirrored the spectacular transformation of Paris a century before: thousands of buildings were demolished, boulevards were carved out within the old city, and whole new residential neighbourhoods were created. In telling the story of this dramatic transformation, Murat Gül investigates and traces the impact of these changing policies on the very fabric of the city itself - in its streets, buildings and landscapes - and in the process provides new insights into the history of Turkey.

Biography of the medieval Mediterranean's most cross-culturally significant sculptural monument, the tallest in the pre-modern world.

One of Time’s 12 Books for the History Buffs on Your Holiday Gift List The first single-volume history of Istanbul in decades: a biography of the city at the center of civilizations past and present. For more than two millennia Istanbul has stood at the crossroads of the world, perched at the very tip of Europe, gazing across 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 Emperor Constantine I re-founded the city as New Rome, the capital of the eastern Roman empire, and dramatically expanded the city, filling it with artistic treasures, and adorning the streets with opulent palaces. Around it all Constantine built new walls, truly impregnable, that 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 F. 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."

The fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 marked the end of a thousand years of the Christian Roman Empire. Thereafter, world civilisation began a process of radical change. The West came to identify itself as Europe; the Russians were set on the path of autocracy; the Ottomans were transformed into a world power while the Greeks were left exiles in their own land. The loss of Constantinople created a void. How that void was to be filled is the subject of this book. Michael Angold examines the context of late Byzantine civilisation and the cultural negotiation which allowed the city of Constantinople to survive for so long in the face of Ottoman power. He shows how the devastating impact of its fall lay at the centre of a series of interlocking historical patterns which marked this time of decisive change for the late medieval world. This concise and original study will be essential reading for students and scholars of Byzantine and late medieval history, as well as anyone with an interest in this significant turning point in world history.