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On May 29, 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, bringing to an end the 1,123-year history of the Byzantine. The rescuing monarch from the East did not look like the Prester John of legend, but his actions had a similar effect. Timur (Tamerlane) rose to power by violence and treachery in Transoxania. He […]

A red apple invites stones. Turkish proverb Early spring. A black kite swings on the Istanbul wind. It turns lazy circles round the Suleymaniye mosque as if tethered to the minarets. From here it can survey a city of fifteen million people, watching the passing of days and centuries through imperturbable eyes. When some ancestor […]