Constantinople by Philip Mansel
In 1453, Mehmed the Conqueror entered Constantinople on a white horse. This was the start of the Ottoman love affair with the city that lasted until 1924, when the last Caliph, Abdulmecid, hurriedly left on the Orient Express. For almost five centuries Constantinople, with its enormous racial and cultural diversity, was the centre of the dramatic and often depraved story of an extraordinary dynasty. Philip Mansel's highly acclaimed book on the history of a city and a dynasty is an absorbing account for the interaction between the vibrantly cosmopolitan capital, the city of the world's desire, and its ruling family.
'The victory, the defeat, the magnificence, the squalor, the cruelty and the tolerance of the Ottoman years are all recorded there, Constantinople is one of those cities to which I always long to return, and the longing grows on every page' -- Anthony Daniels, Sunday Telegraph 'We no longer have an excuse for our ignorance of a great city in the days of its greatness' -- Church Times 'Admirable.. Mansel is at his best when describing the lives led by those in search of the exotic, lulled to sleep in their embassies or waterside villas by the lapping of the Bosphorus and the call to prayer. As a historian of courts, he also captures the spectacle that was the palace, governed by an Ottoman blend of sentiment and cruelty that smelt of blood and tulips' -- Literary Review 'A book of outstanding merit' -- Asian Affairs 'Without question one of the finest books ever written by an Englishman on the Turks' -- Independent '[An] engaging and richly detailed account of the city's history from the Turkish conquest to the end of the Ottoman dynasty' -- Washington Post
Philip Mansel is a historian of France and the Ottoman Empire. He has written histories of Constantinople and nineteenth-century Paris, as well as biographies of Louis XVIII and the Prince de Ligne. Six of his books have been translated into French. He writes for the Art Newspaper, the Times Literary Supplement and The Spectator. While writing LEVANT, he lived in Beirut and Istanbul. In 2012 Philip Mansel was awarded the prestigious London Library Life in Literature Award in recognition of the quality of both his writing and his scholarship.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780719550768 |
| ISBN 10 | 0719550769 |
| Title | Constantinople |
| Author | Philip Mansel |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | John Murray Press |
| Year published | 1995-10-12 |
| Number of pages | 384 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |