Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430-1950The history of a rarely written about, bewilderingly exotic city: 500 years of clashing cultures and peoples, from the glories of Suleiman the Magnificent to its nadir under Nazi occupation. Salonica is the point where the wonders and horrors of the Orient and Europe have met over the centuries. Written with a Pepysian sense of the texture of daily life in the city through the ages, and with breathtakingly detailed historical research, Salonica will evoke the sights, smells, habits, songs and responses of a unique city and its inhabitants. The history of Salonica is one of forgotten alternatives and wrong choices, of identities assumed and discarded. For centuries Muslims, Christians, and Jews have succeeded each other in ascendancy, each people intent on erasing the presence of their predecessors, and the result is a city of cultural traditions and memories of extreme violence and genocide, one that sits on the overlapping hinterlands of both Europe and the East. |
From inside the book
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Page 33
Some converted to Islam in the hope of better treatment ; others , yoked to one another by the neck , could be seen begging for alms in the streets of the capital , Edirne , where they were brought to be sold off , or entered the ...
Some converted to Islam in the hope of better treatment ; others , yoked to one another by the neck , could be seen begging for alms in the streets of the capital , Edirne , where they were brought to be sold off , or entered the ...
Page 85
Kyrill's father died young and he was brought up by his uncle , who had converted to Islam . Alexandros , who also converted , had wandered the Arab world as a dervish , and made the pilgrimage to Mecca , before returning to his ...
Kyrill's father died young and he was brought up by his uncle , who had converted to Islam . Alexandros , who also converted , had wandered the Arab world as a dervish , and made the pilgrimage to Mecca , before returning to his ...
Page 85
Although many of these martyrs had converted to Islam before seeing the error of their ways , what had induced their initial apostasy did not matter to the church – it might have been nothing more noble than the desire to pay lower ...
Although many of these martyrs had converted to Islam before seeing the error of their ways , what had induced their initial apostasy did not matter to the church – it might have been nothing more noble than the desire to pay lower ...
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User Review - vguy - LibraryThingThe perfect book to read on first visit to 'thessaloniki. Unfolds the many layers of this extraordinary "border town", and how the complexity got shaved away over the course of the 20th century by ... Read full review
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User Review - TrgLlyLibrarian - LibraryThingI learned a lot from this book, and I admire Mazower's ability to form such a complete account of Salonica. Read full review
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Albanian allowed Anatolia army arrived Athens authorities Balkan became become British brought building Bulgarian Byzantine called capital carried central centre century changed chief chief rabbi Christian church city's close consul converted early empire Europe European fact faith fire forced French German Greece Greek groups hand head houses hundred imperial important inhabitants Istanbul Italy Jewish Jews known land late later least less lived looked Macedonia March mosque Muslim noted officers once organized Ottoman Pasha passed past police political population Porte quarter rabbi refugees religious remained reported rule Salonica side streets sultan Thessaloniki thousand took town trade travellers troops Turkish Turks turned villages walls women workers wrote young
Bibliographic information
| Title | Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430-1950 |
| Author | Mark Mazower |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | HarperCollins, 2004 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | 25 Jun 2008 |
| ISBN | 0007120230, 9780007120239 |
| Length | 525 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |