Midnight at the Pera Palace

When the Ottoman Empire collapsed, so many spies mingled in the lobby of Istanbul's Pera Palace Hotel that the manager put up a sign asking them to relinquish seats to paying guests. This pioneering portrait of urban reinvention re-create an era when an ancient city became a global crossroads - a moment when Europe's closest Muslim metropolis became its vital port of refuge.

Auteur
Charles King is a professor of international affairs and government at Georgetown University. A frequent media commentator on global issues, he is the author of Gods of the Upper Air, Odessa, Midnight in the Pera Palace, and other books. He lives in Washington, DC.

Résumé
Charles King brings to life a remarkable era when a storied city stumbled into the modern world and reshaped the meaning of cosmopolitanism.