A historical journey to a city with three names that has lost none of its power and magic over the millennia, and whose influence continues to shape our world today. Gripping and epic storytelling. In this comprehensive new biography, Hughes takes us on an overwhelming historical adventure: from the Neolithic period to the present, through the many facets of one of the greatest cities in the world. Vividly and with great narrative skill, she depicts how Istanbul - the oldest political entity between East and West - has absorbed a mosaic of micro-cities and cultures over the last 6000 years. Hughes explores what makes a cosmopolitan city, telling not only the story of emperors, viziers, caliphs, and sultans, but also that of the poor, the ordinary people without a voice - the women and men whose fates often remain in the shadows of history.