Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Conquest; 2. The palace and the populace; 3. Fear and death; 4. Welfare; 5. The consuming city; 6. Outings and excursions; 7. The hamam; 8. The nineteenth century; Beyond the city; Chronology; Who's who.

Promotional Information

Using a wealth of contemporary Ottoman sources, this book recreates the social history of Istanbul.

About the Author

Ebru Boyar is Assistant Professor in the International Relations Department at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara. Her previous publications include The Ottomans and Trade (edited with Kate Fleet, 2006) and Ottomans, Turks and the Balkans: Empire Lost, Relations Altered (2007). Kate Fleet is Director of the Skilliter Centre for Ottoman Studies at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, and Newton Lecturer in Ottoman History in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her previous publications include The Ottoman Capitulations: Text and Context (edited with van den Boogert, 2003) and The Cambridge History of Turkey, Vol. I. Byzantium to Turkey, 1071–1453 (edited, Cambridge, 2008).

Reviews

'The authors paint a vivid picture of the Ottoman capital, as seen through Ottoman eyes and as it appeared to foreign visitors down the ages. Every serious visitor to Istanbul should read this book.' Colin Imber

'An engaging work, full of Ottoman voices. The authors make the city come alive, showing its inhabitants as spectators and participants: gossiping, strolling, demonstrating, smoking, bathing, and even feeding the birds. They persuasively address historiographic assumptions from the seclusion of women to the supposed 'supine fatalism' of the masses.' Palmira Brummett, University of Tennessee

'In Ebru Boyar and Kate Fleet's A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul, the sights, sounds, and smells of the city staged alongside catastrophic events and royal pageantry provide a captivating and rewarding read.' G. Carole Woodal, H-Urban (h-net.org/~urban)