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The Turks Today: Turkey after Ataturk [Paperback]

Andrew Mango (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 11 April 2005
Eighty years have passed since Mustafa Kemal Atat?rk founded the Turkish Republic out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire and set it on the path of modernisation. He was determined that his country should be accepted as a member of the family of civilised nations. Today Turkey is a rapidly developing country, an emergent market and a medium-sized regional power with the second strongest army in NATO. It is an open country which attracts millions of tourists, thousands of foreign businessmen and hundreds of researchers. They enjoy Turkish hospitality and experience its rich landscape and history, but many find it hard to form an overall picture of the country.



In this sequel to his acclaimed biography of Atat?rk, Andrew Mango provides such an overall portrait, tracing the republic's development since the death of its founder and bringing to life the Turkish people and their vibrant society. The Turks Today interprets the latest academic research for a broader audience, making this highly readable book the authoritative work on modern Turkey.

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Product details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: John Murray (11 April 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0719565952
  • ISBN-13: 978-0719565953
  • Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 1.9 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 173,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

Mango's book is a masterful overview of this period in Turkey's history (Sunday Times)

To his credit, modern Turkey's great champion never acts as its apologist ... He is also impressively up to date ... authoritative and illuminating (Sunday Times)

A swift, potted history of the Turkish political roller coaster. (Financial Times)

Andrew Mango gives excellent descriptions of [Ankara and Istanbul] ... he sees Turkey as a success story ... he writes with elegance and conciseness ... The result, at last, is a book that people on their way to Turkey can pick up and read on the plane ... [Turkey's] recent past deserves a proper, sympathetic examination, and a proper, well-informed book to make this possible. It has, at least, got one. (Literary Review)

Andrew Mango knows Turkey well. (The Spectator)

Andrew Mango's portrait of contemporary Turkey is probably the most successful general introduction to the country for several decades. (The Tablet)

He paints a broad and accessible picture, shrewdly gleaned from his insider-outsider dual perspective ... The Turks Today unfolds as a balanced, coherent primer for serious travellers with an itch to read the hidden lie of the land, and for inquisitive general readers. (Scotland on Sunday)

About the Author

Andrew Mango was born in Istanbul. He complemented his knowledge of Turkish by studying Persian and Arabic at the School of Oriental Studies in London. From 1947 to 1986 he worked at the BBC, retiring as Head of South European and French Language Services. He has since been engaged full-time in the study of Turkish affairs, his most recent book being 'Turkey! The Challenge of a New Role'. He lives in London.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Gives a useful, if not perfect, picture of modern Turkey 9 Aug 2008
By Overseas Reviewer
Format:Paperback
I read this prior to visiting Istanbul and it did give me a good feel for the recent history and current geopolitical position of modern Turkey. The book is broadly divided into two parts - the first dealing with the history since the establishment of the republic and the second part looking at the nature of the country in very recent years.

The first part makes rather tough reading. The events immediately following WWI are not covered at all well and then the coverage of the following ~60 or so years of political history is a bit confusing. To be fair to the author, politics in Turkey has been very turbulent so this can be excused, although more coverage of the early 20s and the war of independence would have been helpful.

The second half is devoted to aspects of modern Turkey, including the role of religion, politics, regional & ethnic separatism, economics, Ankara as captial and Istanbul as the country's cultural heart. This was really interesting and exactly what I had purchased the book for.

Other reviewers have commented on the objectivity of some of the content - notably Kurdish issues and the treatment of Armenians. In my opinion, the book is written from a firmly nationalistic perspective and is not altogether unbiased, particularly concerning the Kurds. However, this is quite obvious and can therefore be taken account of by the reader. If it had better maps, I might have given this four stars.
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15 of 19 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A knowledgeable view of Turkey 24 Dec 2004
By "camseller"
Format:Hardcover
Dr. Mango managed to cram a lot into his book. His intimate
knowledge of country and its people shows throughout the book.
He has an advantage many other authors about the country (e.g.
Stephen Kinzer) do not have: his perfect command of Turkish
(I once met author for a short chat in a conference).

Only weakness of the book is that it is a bit generalistic
about Turkish character. Sometimes, it is reduced to say
that "like everybody else, Turks want to live in comfort".

Otherwise, it is an excellent introduction to Republican Turkey.

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15 of 20 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Best-seller in Turkey 10 Nov 2005
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Mr Mango's book is a fairly good portrait of modern Turkey, and the Turkish translation is a top seller in the country itself. However, the book suffers surprisingly from a few small but annoying inaccuracies, and its description of one of the country's ethnic minorities as wild, barely civilised and prone to brutal violence would probably be spiked by any liberal newspaper editor. Hmm, maybe that's part of the reason for its success in the country it describes?
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3.0 out of 5 stars Helped me understand Turkish culture 16 Jan 2013
By Ellen Gladders
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read this book in my first few months after moving to Turkey. It helped me understand the evolution of modern Turkey and the culture of it's people. A useful book in helping me feel more settled in a new country.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent source 9 May 2011
By Melike
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the best book written about my own nationality I've ever read. Explains the corruption in the institutions without any indignity nor scorn, comparing with the other member States in the EU. Also explains how the Turks are, contrary to some other authors, within the frame of "respect", our relations with the Kurd, Armenians and the others. Everything is written in a good order, starting from 1923 to 2008, giving some future predictions and some basic ways to understand the nation. There are some parts that surprised me a lot such as the one about how the Turks are seen as "scapegoat" , especially in the EU. Good to hear that someones listens to us without any prejudice.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of the past 50 years 17 Jan 2006
By C. S. D. Robertson
Format:Paperback
If you want to understand the political and economic backdrop for Turkey's progress towards EU membership, I have not yet read a better book. Gives excellent detail on the political history but also covers some economics, geopolitics etc. I have recommended this to everyone looking at Turkey at present.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read, 20 Jun 2005
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
For anyone trying to get to grips with the Turkish mentality, this is a very readable and informative read. As Turkey is struugling for recognition withing the EU and the wider world, it helps I think to try and understand them better.
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16 of 27 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Biased 16 July 2006
By George
Format:Paperback
The purpose of this book is to give an overview of Turkey's history since the last years of the Ottoman Empire. It contains a highly readable outline of the main events and a fairly clear description of some of the main Turkish institutions. However, its assessments and interpretations (which seem to form the focal point of the book) are sharply at odds with mainstream historiography and, arguably, with moderate political values.

In particular, the plight of ethnic minorities in Turkey is ignored and their basic rights are subordinated to the condition that the minorities follow the desires of the Turkish state in all possible disputes. In the case of the Kurds (who are assigned characterizations verging on the racist) assimilation is suggested as the best hope for them, which is

ironic given that the Turkish State recently abandonded this policy by granting them some rights, e.g. using Kurdish language etc. In the case of the Armenians, there is no mention of the Armenian genocide or the more recent oppression of the surviving Armenians, but instead, reactions to these events by extremists is disproportionally showcased.

Likewise the analysis of international disputes involving Turkey are one-sided and, most tellingly, apart from issues of tactics there is not a single instance in which Turkey (or Ottoman Empire) is blamed for a dispute. An example here is the treatment of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in the 20's. The exchange is presented as an exclusively Turkish tragedy initiated by Greece even though, according to

the information provided in the book, it was a catastrophe for both sides and (a fact omitted in the book) it was Ataturk's idea only reluctantly accepted by Greece.... Read more ›
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