Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul

By Charles King

Categories: History

Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul (2014) is a history by Charles King. King tells the story of Istanbul after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, using the famous Pera Palace Hotel as a stage for spies, refugees, writers and reformers. The book shows how the city remade itself as the capital of a new Turkish republic.

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• Fareed Zakaria: “This week's book of the week is "Midnight at the Pera Palace: the Birth of Modern Istanbul" by Charles King. This is the terrific story of the slow collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of modern Istanbul. It's a story of politics, war, passion, sex. Or set against the backdrop of one of the world's great cities.”