Midnight at the Pera Palace

July 14, 2014
Istanbul in the interwar years was a city in transition: the multilingual, multiethnic ancient seat of the Islamic caliphate and the Greek Orthodox Church became in half a generation an aggressively modern, secular Turkish metropolis, its gaze shifted from orient to occident. “The city whose very geography united Europe and Asia became the world’s greatest experiment in purposeful reinvention in the Western mold,” says King, professor of international affairs at Georgetown University. He tells the story of Istanbul through the eyes of the Pera Palace, the city’s most glamorous hotel and witness to assassinations, bombings, and the “intrigue... seemed to be the city’s common currency.” This is a case study in rapid social change, redolent of incense and gunpowder, a cultural biography of one of the few cities that can claim the title of capital of the world. King investigates the fate of eunuchs when the harem had been disbanded forever and explores how cinema overtook the traditional art of shadow puppetry. A diverse cast, ranging from Muslim beauty queens and Georgian royalty to Leon Trotsky, have left their mark on Istanbul, and King nimbly weaves their threads with enough color to draw in general readers and enough detail to satisfy specialists. Photos.

August 1, 2014

The Pera Palace, named after the fashionable Pera neighborhood in Istanbul, housed foreign soldiers during World War I and foreign spies during World War II. Over the years, the residence was the site of a murder, a suicide, and an explosion. Using the palace as a backdrop, King (international affairs, Georgetown Univ.) skillfully recounts the decline of the Ottoman Empire after Mehmed V declared jihad against the Allies in 1914. King describes how Britain, both Islamophobic and philhellenic, reapportioned the once-sizable Ottoman Empire, leaving Turkey a demilitarized power at the edge of Europe and using Malta as a penal colony. Under British rule, Istanbul became synonymous with vice, and Turkish nationalists nicknamed it "Byzantine Whore." Domestic upheaval, combined with the refusal of Parliament to acknowledge Allied forces while Mehmed lingered in house arrest, led to fervent support of charismatic soldier Mustafa Kemal, who declared Ankara as the country's capital (it was far from Allied forces in Istanbul), ended the sultanate, and founded the Republic of Turkey. The nation began a painful adolescence as Kemal--quietly supported by Lenin and the Bolsheviks--instilled patriotism and championed modernism yet enforced ethnic cleansing and exiled at will. King concludes with Turkey's difficult decision to stay neutral during World War II despite the number of Jewish refugees seeking asylum. Intriguing anecdotes of many Istanbul residents and visitors complete the narrative. VERDICT This satisfying read is highly recommended for anyone interested in war or religious history.--Stephanie Sendaula, Library Journal

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
A dense but smoothly recounted history of Istanbul's transformation from parochial imperial capital to multinational modern city.A scholar of wide-ranging interests and nimble prose, King (International Affairs/Georgetown Univ.; Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams, 2011, etc.) finds in the history of the Pera Palace-first established in 1892 in what was then a fashionable neighborhood of embassies on Istanbul's European side of the Bosphorus-an elegant entree into Turkey's complicated coming-of-age. Around the turn of the century, the city was choked by migration from the countryside, scarred by recurrent earthquakes and fires, and finally crisscrossed by a railroad, an extension of the glamorous new line of the Orient Express. Adapting the Pullman model, Belgian engineer Georges Nagelmackers instituted the European version of the sleeping car for luxurious accommodation on the long trip between Paris and the gateway to Asia, Istanbul. The Pera would offer a continuation of that modern European comfort. The first decades of the 20th century brought cataclysmic change to Istanbul, with the breakup of the Ottoman Empire and occupation by multinational forces at the end of World War I. In this atmosphere, the hotel became the center of Allied administration and its nearby streets, "a shocking testament to Istanbul's newfound libertinism." This was not lost on Turkish officer Mustafa Kemal, who rallied the nationalists for a war of liberation, ending with the declaration of the Turkish Republic of 1924. Bought by a Muslim businessman in 1927, the Pera remained a beacon of cosmopolitan licentiousness between the world wars-within a city roiling with bars, alcohol, music and Western films-yet it eventually became part of a shift to a more Muslim, Turkish, homogeneous population that began producing its own popular culture. The emancipation of women, flirtation with leftist ideals, struggle to remain neutral in World War II and use as a transit point for the exodus of Jews posed unique challenges to this vibrant city.Staggering changes deftly chronicled by a seasoned historian.

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September 15, 2014
Following upon his portrait of one notable city (Odessa, 2011), King evokes the former capital of the Ottoman Empire. Framing them from WWI to WWII, King's images pivot on a hotel that still stands in Istanbul. Built in 1892, the Pera Palace hosted those involved in Anatolia's transformation from the core of an Islamic realm into a secular nation-state. As characters check in and out, King artfully develops how the polyglot city becomes something like, but not completely, Turkish. Noting the sultan's light-handed governance of ethnic groups, King recounts the heavier dispensation imposed by the nationalist government of Mustafa Kemal. While not as violently as in Smyrna, Armenians and Greeks were pressed to leave or adopt Turkish identity, and the Pera eventually passed from Greek to Turkish ownership. Istanbul's march into modernity also involved cultural innovation, and King expatiates on trends and personalities involved in the city's nightclubs, the literary scene, and the developing status of women. Throughout his often wistful narrative, King's tracking of travelers through the Pera and Istanbul delivers a luminous portrait of a famous city.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)