Robinson Crusoe 389 is an independent bookshop on İstiklal Caddesi — one of the few on the street that has survived the commercial pressure of what is now one of the most visited thoroughfares in Turkey. The selection is international: English-language fiction, translation, art publishing, and a section of books about Istanbul, Turkey, and the broader Ottoman and Byzantine world that is one of the better curated city-specific collections in the city. The shop is named after the novel and operates with the bibliophilic conviction of a place that has decided what it is. The Istanbul section specifically — history, architecture, memoir, photography — reflects serious ongoing curation rather than a tourist shelf.
Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey