{"product_id":"to-the-city-life-and-death-along-the-ancient-walls-of-istanbul-9781639367344","title":"To the City: Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul","description":"\u003cb\u003eA journey along the crumbling defensive walls of Istanbul reveals the story of Turkey's history and becomes a mirror of its present--as well as a shadow of its future.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCaught between two seas and two continents, Istanbul lies at the center of the most pressing challenges of our time. With environmental decay, rapacious development, and tightening authoritarianism straining its social fabric to breaking point, it represents the precipitous moment civilizations around the world are currently facing. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In and around its crumbling Byzantine-era fortifications, Alexander Christie-Miller meets people who are experiencing the looming crisis and fighting back, sometimes triumphing despite the odds. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eTo the City\u003c\/i\u003e seamlessly blends two narratives: the story of Turkey's tumultuous recent past told through the lives of those who live around the walls, and the story of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II's siege and capture of the city in 1453. That event still looms large in Turkey, as Recep Tayyip Erdogan like a latter-day sultan invokes its memory as part of his effort to transform the country in an echo of its imperial past. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This is a meditation on the soul of Istanbul, a paean to its resilience and fortitude. \u003ci\u003eTo the City \u003c\/i\u003etakes us on a narrative journey and along the way, we witness danger, beauty and hope.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlexander Christie-Miller \u003c\/b\u003ewas born in Wiltshire in 1982, and studied English Literature and Theatre Studies at Trinity College Dublin. Between 2010 and 2017 he worked as a journalist in Istanbul, where he was correspondent for \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e. His work has also appeared in \u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e The Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Der Spiegel\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eWhite Review\u003c\/i\u003e among other publications\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Pegasus Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50878224859410,"sku":"9781639367344","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_12398a99-db03-4a30-b51e-29e1428e2bc3.jpg?v=1738259646","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/to-the-city-life-and-death-along-the-ancient-walls-of-istanbul-9781639367344","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}