To the City

Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul

Alexander Christie-Miller

A journey along the crumbling defensive walls of Istanbul reveals the story of Turkey's history and becomes a mirror of its present—as well as a shadow of its future.

Caught between two seas and two continents, Istanbul lies at the center of the most pressing challenges of our time. With environmental decay, rapacious development, and tightening authoritarianism straining its social fabric to breaking point, it represents the precipitous moment civilizations around the world are currently facing.

In and around its crumbling Byzantine-era fortifications, Alexander Christie-Miller meets people who are experiencing the looming crisis and fighting back, sometimes triumphing despite the odds.

To the City seamlessly blends two narratives: the story of Turkey’s tumultuous recent past told through the lives of those who live around the walls, and the story of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II’s siege and capture of the city in 1453. That event still looms large in Turkey, as Recep Tayyip Erdogan like a latter-day sultan invokes its memory as part of his effort to transform the country in an echo of its imperial past.

This is a meditation on the soul of Istanbul, a paean to its resilience and fortitude. To the City takes us on a narrative journey and along the way, we witness danger, beauty and hope.

Alexander Christie-Miller was born in Wiltshire in 1982, and studied English Literature and Theatre Studies at Trinity College Dublin. Between 2010 and 2017 he worked as a journalist in Istanbul, where he was correspondent for The Times. His work has also appeared in Newsweek, The Atlantic, Der Spiegel, and the White Review among other publications

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Endorsements & Reviews

“Christie-Miller deftly uses the walls and the stories of those living around them as a lens through which to understand Turkish society and illustrate recent events. With nuance and empathy, Christie-Miller profiles some of the residents who (with mixed results) tried to resist the redevelopment. The book is extensively researched, not only drawing from the historical literature on the Ottoman conquest but also delving into topics such as industrialization and environmental cleanup in Istanbul. Christie-Miller beautifully portrays the scenes and rhythms of Istanbul in language that’s often poetic.” The Washington Post

“To the City, is an insightful look not only at Istanbul but at the drift of Turkey whose direction seems strangely similar to the U.S.” The Shepherd Express

“A revelatory exploration of the ancient city’s four miles of land walls, which enclose the entire western side of its peninsula. Christie-Miller is a knowledgeable and ideal guide to this terrain. Throughout the book, Istanbul’s storied past and tumultuous present coexist along miles of the historic walls. Istanbul’s city walls become the backdrop to compelling human stories of survival and resistance.” Kirkus Reviews

"An enthralling guide to one of the world’s great cities – that blends history and insights into the present day from one of the most astute commentators on the politics of Istanbul. A book that is as informative as it is enjoyable." Peter Frankopan

"Alexander Christie-Miller writes with great eloquence and clarity about our fluid, protean, multi-layered Istanbul, the city he made his home for years. As in his investigative reporting from the 2010s, which exposed the tyrannical political thirst behind Erdogan’s push for ‘democratization’, his writing excavates something precious and vital: truth." Kaya Genç, author of Under the Shadow

"A lyrical tribute to Istanbul, a city where the present is always struggling against the past. More than that, it’s an indispensable guide to the nuances, complexities and contradictions of Ottoman and Turkish history." Hannah Lucinda Smith, author of Erdogan Rising

"Alexander Christie-Miller is an exceptionally fluent and imaginative writer who knows Turkey intimately." Max Hastings, author of Abyss: The Cuban Missle Crisis