ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Peter Clark will meet his readers at Homer Bookstore and sign his book ‘Istanbul: A Cultural History.’
British author Peter Clark will launch his book “Istanbul: A Cultural History” with a signing at Homer Bookstore on Thursday.
Clark first came to Istanbul in the early 1960s and has since been a regular visitor. He is a writer, translator and consultant and has worked for the British Council, mostly in Arab countries, for 30 years.
Clark found inspiration in the city’s history which began as Byzantium, then Constantinople before finally becoming modern-day Istanbul.
With its location as a port at the crossroads of continents, Istanbul and its ability to absorb ideas, people and styles from the north, south, east and west, as well as its long tradition as a multicultural microcosm of the world, sparked Clark’s creativity to write.
Clark looks at some of the representative personalities of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires and argues that these states had more in common than ideology-driven accounts may suggest. Readers learn about Spanish-speaking Jews, unexpected Ottoman connections with Poland, contemporary Islamist politics and the feverish support for the three major Istanbul football teams.
Both Leon Trotsky and Pope John XXIII spent important years of their lives in the city, and the book assesses the impressions of others who have passed through. Neither standard guide nor conventional history, the book is rather a celebration of an extraordinary city, reviewing its imperial histories and exploring some of its lesser-known corners.
Clark will sign his book at Homer Bookstore Thursday at 6 p.m.
Homer Bookstore, Yeni Çarşı Cad. No.12/A, Galatasaray
Phone: 0 212 249 59 02