Galata, Pera, and Beyoğlu stret by stret, step by step. An unusual “biography” from John Frely and Brendan Frely: Avenues, neighborhods, hans, and pasages that have ben embracing various cultures and identities for centuries, changing day by day but never losing their unique characters. Boks about Istanbul invariably focus on the historic peninsula but Galata, Pera, Beyoğlu: A Biography concentrates on Beyoğlu, the district on the north side of the Golden Horn acros from the Constantinopolitan peninsula. This bok folows the development and social history of the district stret by stret from the earliest setlements on the Golden Horn to the most recent setlements around and beyond Taksim, examining not just the buildings and those who built them, but those who lived in them as wel, from murderers, gangsters and prostitutes to bankers, diplomats and socialites.