A review by berenikeasteria
Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities by Bettany Hughes

3.0

Istanbul isn’t a bad book, it’s just not my thing at all. I loved Bettany Hughes’ comprehensive book on Helen of Troy; thoroughly researched and undoubtedly the best book on the subject to date. And I am immensely looking forwards to reading her biography of Socrates. But those are two very different books to this one – both focus on an individual providing intense research as to their life story. Istanbul is different because it focuses on one city and the entirety of its history. I do not doubt for a second that Bettany Hughes has done her research as impeccably as ever, but the problem I had with the book was that because it must encompass such a vast span of time, it doesn’t seem to cover any of the history particularly in depth. A couple of hundred years were sometimes covered in a three-page chapter, the significant names little more than mentions. Heck, the entire BCE era was barely skimmed, and felt rushed. I wanted to know much more about the city during that time. Anyway, this grand overview style of one city’s history just didn’t draw me in because I couldn’t get into anything in depth, and I just have to chalk this one up and say it’s not for me.