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
Results 1-3 of 63
Page 145
During a fire in 1840 , Omer Pasha ' was immediately on the spot ' to check the flames by ordering all the shops near the fire to be pulled down . By contrast , Yusuf Pasha was ' not respected owing to his indolence ' and the former ...
During a fire in 1840 , Omer Pasha ' was immediately on the spot ' to check the flames by ordering all the shops near the fire to be pulled down . By contrast , Yusuf Pasha was ' not respected owing to his indolence ' and the former ...
Page 320
By nightfall the blaze had spread into the lower town and buildings were being blown up in a futile attempt to stem the course of the fire . Streams of red wine flowed into the gutters from bursting barrels of French army claret ...
By nightfall the blaze had spread into the lower town and buildings were being blown up in a futile attempt to stem the course of the fire . Streams of red wine flowed into the gutters from bursting barrels of French army claret ...
Page 321
Two months after the fire , wrote a British soldier , ' Salonica was a city of the dead . Its streets were deserted , its cafés and restaurants were no more , and at night the gibbous moon cast its silvery light over a waste land of ...
Two months after the fire , wrote a British soldier , ' Salonica was a city of the dead . Its streets were deserted , its cafés and restaurants were no more , and at night the gibbous moon cast its silvery light over a waste land of ...
What people are saying - Write a review
Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified
LibraryThing Review
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
LibraryThing Review
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
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
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