Young Adult Books (ages 12+) • Narratives

İstanbul Masalı
The Story of İstanbul

Mine Soysal

Illustrator: Betül Sayın

The thousands of years story of İstanbul, one of the oldest cities, from the very beginning until today!

In this special narrative, archaeologist and writer Mine Soysal tells the 300.000-year-old colorful story of the world city İstanbul, from prehistoric times to present, to readers of all ages. From the geological formation process of the Marmara Region to the first people who came to the region, from the Yarımburgaz Cave to the first villages established, from the first port city of Byzantion to Constantinople, the legendary capital of the Byzantine Empire; from the powerful capital of the Ottoman Empire to İstanbul, the tired megapolis of today she tells a continous and unique settlement story. The narrative, enriched with watercolored drawings of Betül Sayın, inspired a documentary film titled “İstanbul Tale with Mine Soysal” in the “Faces of İstanbul” documentary series of İZ TV in 2015.

Overview

An interesting reading for all ages, this book based on historical data relating to the story of İstanbul, one of the largest cities of Europe, since its foundation. The story of the settlement starts with the geological formation process and extends to the first settlers, from the Yarımburgaz Cave to the first villages, from the first harbour town Byzantion to Constantinople, the capital of the celebrated Byzantine Empire, from the capital of the Ottoman Empire to the world city İstanbul. The book is animated with miniature like illustrations by Betül Sayın.

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AUTHOR

Mine Soysal

Author and publisher Mine Soysal was born in 1959 in İstanbul. Soysal graduated from İstanbul University, Department of Ancient Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures in 1981. Until 1994 she worked as an archaeologist and researcher in İstanbul Archaeology Museums, carrying out exhibition projects and participating in many excavations and surveys. She founded Günışığı Kitaplığı in 1996, a publishing house specialised in Turkish and world literature for children and young adults. She prepared the story book Ala, the Child on the Road (Ala […]
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