Books about Istanbul from Amazon.com

A shimmering evocation, by turns intimate and panoramic, of one of the world’s great cities, by its foremost writer. Orhan Pamuk was born in Istanbul and still lives in the family apartment building where his mother first held him in her arms. His portrait of his city is thus also a self-portrait, refracted by memory and the melancholy–or hüzün– that all Istanbullus share: the sadness that comes of living amid the ruins of a lost empire.

With cinematic fluidity, Pamuk moves from his glamorous, unhappy parents to the gorgeous, decrepit mansions overlooking the Bosphorus; from the dawning of his self-consciousness to the writers and painters–both Turkish and foreign–who would shape his consciousness of his city. Like Joyce’s Dublin and Borges’ Buenos Aires, Pamuk’s Istanbul is a triumphant encounter of place and sensibility, beautifully written and immensely moving..
Price: $7.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]

From one of Turkey’s most acclaimed and outspoken writers, a novel about the tangled histories of two families

In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country’s violent past in a vivid and colorful tale set in both Turkey and the United States. At its center is the “bastard” of the title, Asya, a nineteen-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family who all live together in an extended household in Istanbul: Zehila, the zestful, headstrong youngest sister who runs a tattoo parlor and is Asya’s mother; Banu, who has newly discovered herself as a clairvoyant; Cevriye, a widowed high school teacher; and Feride, a hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. Their one estranged brother lives in Arizona with his wife and her Armenian daughter, Armanoush. When Armanoush secretly flies to Istanbul in search of her identity, she finds the Kazanci sisters and becomes fast friends with Asya. A secret is uncovered that links the two families and ties them to the 1915 Armenian deportations and massacres. Full of vigorous, unforgettable female characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is a bold, powerful tale that will confirm Shafak as a rising star of international fiction..
Price: $6.72 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $11.08 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Nineteenth-century Istanbul thrills in this page-turner about a conspiracy to steal an ancient reliquary whose secret could change the world.

The Ottoman Empire is plagued by thefts of antiquities from mosques and churches that, within days, appear for sale in Europe. Among them is a reliquary, presumed lost for four hundred years and around which an elaborate and mysterious sect has grown.

In Istanbul, magistrate Kamil Pasha is under pressure to break the smuggling ring amid rising tensions between Christians and Muslims. He confronts a mysterious adversary who will stop at nothing to get the reliquary first. With the Balkans aflame and Kamil's personal life in upheaval, the search into the old neighborhoods where Istanbul's crime rings reside may cost Kamil not only his position but also his life.

Jenny White enters this time of distrust and turmoil, re-creating the gritty underworld of a dying empire..
Price: $7.49 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Every visitor to Istanbul needs a good map and a good guidebook-now, for the first time, the two have been combined in a unique format at an unbeatable price. Perfectly sized to fit in a purse or back pocket, the Eyewitness Pocket Map & Guide is a fully illustrated guide to all the major sights-plus an ingenious fold-out map so you will never feel lost. The guide also includes restaurants, pubs, shops and a mini-phrasebook. It's all you need for a perfect day out and about-and for just $6.99..
Price: $3.55 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Discover Istanbul

Listen to the echoes of countless footsteps rising into the dome of the Aya Sofya
Savour the serene frescoes and glittering mosaics of the Chora Church
Watch the sunset while commuting between Asia and Europe on a Bosphorous ferry
Submit to a vigorous lathering and scrubbing in a historic hamam

In This Guide:

46 days of in-city research, 30 ferry trips, over 100 mezes eaten
Full-color chapters on the city's architectural treasures and Turkish cuisine
Locals discuss making a living in the bazaar, artistic traditions, bears and gender benders
Content updated daily - visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler insights
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Price: $9.59 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This classic account shows how the fall of Constantinople in May 1453, after a siege of several weeks, came as a bitter shock to Western Christendom. The city's plight had been neglected, and negligible help was sent in this crisis. To the Turks, victory not only brought a new imperial capital, but guaranteed that their empire would last. To the Greeks, the conquest meant the end of the civilisation of Byzantium, and led to the exodus of scholars stimulating the tremendous expansion of Greek studies in the European Renaissance..
Price: $10.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]