Turkey Book Talk

Nicholas Danforth on “The Remaking of Republican Turkey: Memory and Modernity since the Fall of the Ottoman Empire” (Cambridge University Press). The book upends conventional wisdom about social and political shifts from 1945 to 1960, with many implications for our understanding of today's Turkey. Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Büke Uras on “The Balyans: Ottoman Architecture and the Balyan Archive” (Korpus). The Balyan family served as Ottoman imperial architects for three generations in the 19th century and are responsible for some of Istanbul's most iconic monuments, including Dolmabahçe Palace and Ortaköy Mosque. Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Suna Çağaptay on “The First Capital of the Ottoman Empire: The Religious, Architectural and Social History of Bursa” (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury). The book examines Bursa's history from antiquity to today, particularly its hybrid and plural character after transitioning from Byzantine to Ottoman rule in the 14th century. Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Dimitris Kamouzis on “Greeks in Turkey: Elite Nationalism and Minority Politics in Late Ottoman and Early Republican Istanbul” (Routledge). The book explores the spread of nationalism and ideas of unity with Greece among Istanbul's Greek Orthodox community from the 19th century to 1923 and beyond. Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Christine Philliou, associate professor of history at UC Berkeley, on “Turkey: A Past Against History” (University of California Press). The book examines the life of the writer Refik Halid Karay (1888-1965), interrogating the shifting meaning of political dissent from Ottoman to republican eras. Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Malte Fuhrmann, research fellow at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, on “Port Cities of the East Mediterranean: Urban Culture in the Late Ottoman Empire” (Cambridge University Press). The book paints a panorama of cultural and social life in the diverse cities of Salonica, Istanbul and Izmir in the late Ottoman era. Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Sir Noel Malcolm, senior research fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford, on “Useful Enemies: Islam and the Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought 1450-1750” (Oxford University Press). Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.  

Evren Savcı, author of "Queer in Translation: Sexual Politics Under Neoliberal Islam" (Duke University Press), on shifting discourse around LGBT rights in Turkey and the government's mounting rhetoric against activists. Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Ahmet Erdi Öztürk on “Religion, Identity and Power: Turkey and the Balkans in the 21st Century" (Edinburgh University Press). Based on extensive fieldwork, the book examines how Turkey's religious nationalist transformation under Erdoğan is reflected in its expanding footprint in the Balkans. Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Jenny White, professor at Stockholm University's Institute for Turkish Studies, on "Turkish Kaleidoscope: Fractured Lives in a Time of Violence" (Princeton University Press). The graphic novel, illustrated by Ergün Gündüz, tells the story of young protagonists caught up in the social turbulence leading to Turkey's 1980 coup. Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.