Talk by Alexander Christie-Miller at Wolterton Hall

Date: 18 April 2024 6.30-8.00pm £25

“Alexander Christie-Miller is an exceptionally fluent and imaginative writer who knows Turkey
intimately”  — Max Hastings

Please join us on Thursday 18th April for a fascinating talk on the turbulent history of Istanbul, seen through the lens of Alexander Christie-Miller’s To The City: Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul.  Standing at the gateway between Europe and Asia, Istanbul lies at the centre 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 civilisations around the world are currently facing. In and around its crumbling Byzantine-era fortifications, Alexander 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 Erdoğan like a latter-day sultan invokes its memory as part of his effort to transform the country in an echo of its imperial past.

After the talk there’ll be an opportunity for audience questions and a glass of wine.

The talk is to take place in the Marble Hall of Wolterton Hall, one of the great houses of Norfolk courtesy of Mr Richard Ellis and his family.

Alexander Christie-Miller worked in Istanbul between 2010 and 2017, where he was correspondent for The Times. His work has appeared in Newsweek, The Atlantic, Der Spiegel, and the White Review among other publications.

You will not receive a ticket for this event, but your name will be held at the door.  You will receive an email confirming your booking.

Limited places available so please book early — Tickets £25 each

Apply for tickets at £25 each

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