Overview

Caught between two seas and two continents, Istanbul lies at the center of the most pressing challenges of our time. With environmental decay, rapacious development, and tightening authoritarianism straining its social fabric to breaking point, it represents the precipitous moment civilizations around the world are currently facing. In and around its crumbling Byzantine-era fortifications, Alexander Christie-Miller meets people who are experiencing the looming crisis and fighting back, sometimes triumphing despite the odds. To the City seamlessly blends two narratives: the story of Turkey's tumultuous recent past told through the lives of those who live around the walls, and the story of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II's siege and capture of the city in 1453. That event still looms large in Turkey, as Recep Tayyip Erdogan like a latter-day sultan invokes its memory as part of his effort to transform the country in an echo of its imperial past. This is a meditation on the soul of Istanbul, a paean to its resilience and fortitude. To the City takes us on a narrative journey and along the way, we witness danger, beauty, and hope.

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Author Information

Alexander Christie-Miller was born in Wiltshire in 1982, and studied English literature and theatre studies at Trinity College Dublin. Between 2010 and 2017 he worked as a journalist in Istanbul, where he was correspondent for the Times. His work has also appeared in Newsweek, the Atlantic, Der Spiegel, and the White Review among other publications. Mark Meadows has recorded over eighty audiobook titles, for a large number of labels. He can be heard frequently on BBC Radio, with shows including Book at Bedtime, Lost Souls, and The Worst Journey in the World. He is a former musical director of The Swingle Singers and has various theater and recording credits as composer and arranger, in addition to his numerous stage-acting credits.

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