Due to the ongoing political difficulties in Syria I must (temporarily only, I hope) abandon my research for a book about gardens of the Levant. However, a man must have a project, so in the meantime I will be writing about the gardens attached to palaces and houses on the Bosphorus. I would welcome any information from MGS members about any such extant gardens and any literature (in any language) associated with them (I have 'Splendours of the Bosphorus: Houses and Palaces of Istanbul' by Hellier and Venturi, first published in 1993). I will be in Istanbul 18-25 March 2012.