Mary Lee Settle, Turkish Reflections, A Biography of a Place
1991, PAPER, 253 PAGES, $13.00
A cross-country odyssey from the Aegean shores to the Bosporus and interior by an author and poet who lived in Bodrum 20 years before. Settle’s captivating travelogue is a richly detailed portrait of Turkey, its people, monasteries, myths, archaeological treasures, and living traditions. (Item no. TKY08)
Richard Stoneman, A Traveller’s History of Turkey
1998, PAPER, 272 PAGES, $14.95
A comprehensive history of the country from the Paleolithic to the present. This ambitious book is a well written and accessible overview of Turkish history, necessarily superficial. (Item no. TKY13)
Bernard Lewis
Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire
1989, PAPER, 187 PAGES, $17.95
The great Islamic scholar describes the invasion of Constantinople by the Selcuk Turks on May 29, 1453, evoking the city at this pivotal moment in its long history. It is a fascinating, highly readable look at the people and architecture of the city.
Freytag & Berndt, Turkey Map
MAP, $11.95
A shaded relief map of all of Turkey at a scale of 1:800,000.
National Geographic
National Geographic Expedition Journal
2000, HARD COVER, 192 PAGES, $24.00
A deluxe leather-bound journal for the traveler featuring heavyweight blank paper and 90 vintage photographs from the National Geographic archives. (Item no. GEN157)
Peter Burian, Robert Caputo
National Geographic Photography Field Guide, Secrets to Making Great Pictures
2003, PAPER, 368 PAGES, $24.95
A concise, practical guide to taking better photographs covering equipment, film, and technique. With suggestions and how-to. (Item no. PHT08)
Lee Allane, Kilims: A Buyer’s Guide
1995, PAPER, 144 PAGES, $17.95
It’s impossible to escape the array of stunning kilim carpets in Turkey – and this thoroughly illustrated book is a guide to their history, techniques, and variety. It includes a practical guide to price and quality for the prospective buyer. (Item no. TKY03)
David Talbot Rice, Art of the Byzantine Era
1985, PAPER, 286 PAGES, $16.95
A thoroughly illustrated introduction to Byzantine art, wide-ranging and literate. It focuses on the extraordinary early Christian treasures of Constantinople. With 250 illustrations, many in color, and accompanying text. (Item no. TKY22)
Rough Guide, Turkish, A Rough Guide Phrasebook
1996, PAPER, 247 PAGES, $6.50
An A-Z pocket dictionary, phrasebook and mini-guide to the Turkish language. (Item no. TKY61)
John Freely, Istanbul, the Imperial City
1998, PAPER, 432 PAGES, $16.00
This is a fascinating history of the city, covering the Byzantine and Ottoman empires in detail. It includes a section of historic and modern photographs and neighborhood maps. (Item no. TKY23)
Seton Lloyd, Ancient Turkey, A Traveller’s History
1999, PAPER, 240 PAGES, $24.95
This guide tells a lively tale of cultures and conquest, from the Hittites to St. Paul, that illuminates the living past of Turkey’s archaeological treasures.
(Item no. TKY43)
Robin Lane Fox, Alexander the Great
1994, PAPER, 568 PAGES, $15.95
A popular biography of Alexander the Great, noteworthy for its scholarship, great descriptions, and psychological insight. This enormously readable book succeeds in bringing the man and his era to life.
(Item no. GRE17)
Andrew Mango
Ataturk, The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey
2003, PAPER, 539 PAGES, $22.95
The first biography in a generation of the the much-revered reformer. Mango takes a balanced approach in his depiction of Ataturk as an extremely influential but dangerously authoritarian figure. (Item no. TKY52)
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Malcolm Jack (Editor), Anita Desai (Introduction)
Turkish Embassy Letters
2001, PAPER, 256 PAGES, $14.95
A collection of lively, unfettered letters by the wife of the British ambassador to Istanbul. The unconventional, controversial Lady Montagu (1689-1762) delights in the customs and life of 18th-century Turkish culture and high society. (Item no. TKY45)
Irfan Orga, Portrait of a Turkish Family
2003, PAPER, 332 PAGES, $19.95
This splendid memoir of life in Istanbul in the years surrounding World War I captures the spirit and flavor of the city in the last days of the Ottoman empire. (Item no. TKY83)
Erik Zurcher, Turkey, A Modern History
1998, PAPER, 245 PAGES, $24.50
A history of the Turkish state from 1780 to the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923. It’s the best single guide to the complex history of modern Turkey. (Item no. TKY10)
Jeremy Seal
A Fez of the Heart, Travels around Turkey in Search of a Hat
1996, PAPER, 337 PAGES, $15.00
The author didn’t really focus his travels entirely on a hat. It’s an excuse to comment on modern Turkey and the dramatic changes since the rise of Kemil Ataturk (who banned the Fez in 1925). The book deftly combines reporting, history, politics, and the old-fashioned travelogue. (Item no. TKY16)
Rose MacAulay, Jan Morris (Introduction)
The Towers of Trebizond
2003, PAPER, 277 PAGES, $14.00
First published in 1956, this is the impossibly witty account of an eccentric party of Brits who set off for Turkey to establish a mission. Macaulay has written here a minor masterpiece that makes great fun of the church and eccentric Englishmen in exotic lands. (Item no. TKY15)
Freya Stark, Alexander’s Path
1990, PAPER, 283 PAGES, $15.95
Classic travel writing, well-researched, and evocative. Stark journeyed throughout the Near East in the 1950s, producing a series of classic travelogues. In this book, she retraces the route of Alexander the Great along the shores of western and southern Turkey including Xanthus, Myra, and Miletus.
(Item no. TKY32)
Mary Lee Settle, Blood Tie
1995, PAPER, 396 PAGES, $12.95
By the author of the wonderful memoir Turkish Reflections, this novel also draws on Settle’s experiences in Turkey. The characters – American and European expatriates in an ancient Turkish city – range from a former accountant to an heiress to a fugitive lost in a cave. Their seemingly unrelated lives converge in a tale of death and cultural misunderstanding. Winner of the National Book Award
