Best General Turkey Travel Guides

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. 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. [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. 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. Istanbul takes us on a wild ride through a landscape populated by explorers, lascivious empresses, popes, crusaders, conquerors, and sultans.

His portrait of his city is thus also a self-portrait, refracted by memory and the melancholy–or h ü z ü n– that all Istanbullus share: the sadness that comes of living amid the ruins of a lost empire.With cinematic fluidity, Pamuk moves from his glamorous, unhappy parents to the gorgeous, decrepit mansions overlooking the Bosphorus; from the dawning of his self-consciousness to the writers and painters–both Turkish and foreign–who would shape his consciousness of his city. Reminiscent of works by Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez, Pamuk’s novels, mostly set in his native Turkey, have racked up an International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and profiles on NPR (see Snow , ***1/2 Nov/Dec 2004).

To bring the current message of Greek tourism to a reading public, we've called upon the research and writing talents of one of America's foremost travel journalists. Stephen Brewer has been writing travel guides for three decades.

With hundreds of full-color photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, and custom maps that illuminate every page, DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Istanbul truly shows you this city as no one else can. With guidebooks to hundreds of places around the globe available in print and digital formats, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides show travelers how they can discover more. DK Eyewitness Travel Guides: the most maps, photographs, and illustrations of any guide. "Known… for its four-color maps, photos and illustrations, the [DK] Eyewitness Guides are extremely user-friendly for travelers who want their information delivered in a concise, visual way."