Istanbul: City of Majesty at the Crossroads of the World

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"For more than two millennia Istanbul has stood at the crossroads of the world. 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 made it a center for trade but also a target for every empire in history. At its most spectacular, Emperor Constantine I refounded the city as New Rome, filling it with artistic treasures, adorning the streets with opulent palaces, and building new walls that preserved its power and wealth--walls that withstood any aggressor and still stand for tourists to visit today. Drawing on a lifetime of study and the latest scholarship, Istanbul transports readers to a city of unparalleled importance and majesty, a city at the center of civilizations past and present."--The publisher