Memoirs Among the Turks

"Among the Turks", which provides first-hand information about the founding years and mission of Robert College, includes the memories of the school's founder and first rector, American Protestant missionary Cyrus Hamlin (1811-1900), in Istanbul, where he spent thirty-five years between 1839-1876. Written during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire by an eye-witness, "Among the Turks" sheds light on many contemporary events both within the Empire and abroad. Hamlin briefly discusses the origin, character, growth and extent of the Ottoman Empire but gives invaluable firsthand accounts of social life, educational institutions, laws, religion, evangelical efforts, reforms, military character and many other topics. He illustrates his own Istanbul the way he saw her, weary under a growing shadow of her age but still beautiful...