John Freely’s Istanbul

John Freely is to Istanbul what Augustus Hare was to Rome in the 19th century. For forty-three years he has known, explored, loved and illuminated his adopted city. To walk the streets, to climb the hills, to visit the mosques and palaces of Istanbul with Freely is to learn first-hand the multi-faceted history of the New Rome, and of the Turkish Imperial capital that succeeded it. He knows every nook and cranny, who lived where and when, and the people who live there now. Born in New York in 1926, Freely has been a physics teacher in Istanbul since 1960. His passion for the city began with walks with family and friends. His first book, Strolling through Istanbul (co-written with Hilary Sumner-Boyd) was published in 1972 and has established itself as a classic of its genre. This has been followed by more than thirty books on the history and topography of the city. Now Freely looks afresh at the city with which he has been so intimately connected for nearly half a century. Lavishly illustrated with contemporary photographs and far-ranging historical material, John Freely’s Istanbul is the summation of the passion and knowledge of the city’s greatest modern biographer.