This book does not only aim at reminding us once more of İstanbul's past glory days, but olso draws our attention to the point that at this moment of time, İstanbul is again a world city where many people from various language backgrounds can be found crowding its streets day and night. The impressions of famous Western travellers of years gone by, share teh book's pages with the interpretations of contemporary İstanbul written by Sefa Kaplan.