Midnight at the Pera Palace_{The Birth of Modern Istanbul}

'Popular history at its best, authoritative and hugely entertaining. Few places were as colorful as Istanbul between the wars, and Professor King captues all the chaotic biro and contradictions of a city, and a culture, reinventing itself.'

- Joseph Kanon, author of Istanbul Passage

Istanbul Between The Wars: the hub of modern cosmopolitanism at the heart of the Islamic world. Spies, jazz dancers, revolutionaries, beaty queens, and diplomats all plied their trades. While a multiethnic Ottoman Empire transformed itself into a Turkish republic, Istanbul remained a global crossroads, hosting Russian exiles, Jewish refugees, and larger-than-life figures such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Leon Trotsky, the future Pope John 23, and Muslim feminist Halide Edip. Scrupulously reseached and eleganrty written, this kaleidoscopic portrait it also a modern parable of the perils of nationalism.

'A mare's nest of intrigue, violence, sex and espionage, all set against the slow dimming of Ottoman magnificence. I loved this book.'

- Simon Winchester, author of Krakatoa

'Brilliant, entertaining, authoritative.'

- Simon Sebag Montefiore author of Jerusalem

'Rich, stimulating narritive.'

- Economist

'Superb..... A sepia-toned classic!'

- Robert D. Kaplan, author of The Revenge of Geography

Charles King is a professor of international affairs and government at Georgetown University. A freQuent media commentator on global issues, he is the author of Odessa and other books. He lives in Washington, DC.