Turkey Book Talk

Çiğdem Oğuz on moral panic and westernisation in the late Ottoman era and today

Çiğdem Oğuz on “Moral Crisis in the Ottoman Empire: Society, Politics and Gender during WWI” (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury). The book examines debates about morality in the late Ottoman era, when mounting European cultural influence triggered anxiety about the loss of traditional religious values.

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk. 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.

Murat Siviloğlu on the emergence of public opinion in the late Ottoman Empire

Murat R. Siviloğlu on “The Emergence of Public Opinion: State and Society in the Late Ottoman Empire” (Cambridge University Press). The book argues that Ottoman society developed a realm of “public opinion” that had a crucial effect on political developments in the late 19th century.

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk. 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.

Ramazan Aras on the past and present of the Turkey-Syria border

Ramazan Aras on “The Wall: The Making and Unmaking of the Turkish-Syrian Border” (Palgrave Macmillan). The book examines the effect on local Kurdish communities of the foundation of the Turkey-Syria border in 1923 and its later hardening, leading most recently to the building of a security wall along its length.

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk. 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.

Maureen Freely on rediscovering leftist Turkish novelist Suat Derviş

Maureen Freely discusses the eventful life of leftist woman novelist Suat Derviş (1904-1972), as well as her recently published translation of Derviş's “In the Shadow of the Yalı” (Other Press).

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk. 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.

Marc David Baer on the Ottomans as khans, caesars and caliphs

Marc David Baer on “The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphs” (Basic Books). The book argues for the Ottoman Empire as an inseparable part of European history - not as antithesis of the Christian West but as an intimate and active participant in the continent's shifting cultural and political tides.

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk. 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.

Federico Donelli on Turkey‘s push into Africa

Federico Donelli on “Turkey in Africa: Turkey's Strategic Involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa” (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury). The book looks at Ankara's bid to boost its diplomatic, cultural, economic and security influence in Africa, the effects it has had on the ground, and what to expect in the coming years.

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk. 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.

Yonca Köksal on Ottoman modernisation from the ground up

Yonca Köksal on “The Ottoman Empire in the Tanzimat Era: Provincial Perspectives from Ankara to Edirne” (Routledge). The book compares the empire's modernising, centralising reforms of the 19th century in the Balkan province of Edirne and the central Anatolian province of Ankara.

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk. 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.

Giancarlo Casale on Osman of Timişoara, Ottoman captive in 17th century Europe

Giancarlo Casale on “Prisoner of the Infidels: The Memoir of an Ottoman Muslim in 17th Century Europe” (UC Press). Casale edited and translated the book, the first English-language edition of Osman of Timişoara's fascinating memoir describing his years as prisoner and slave in the Habsburg Empire from 1688 to 1699.

Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk. 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.

Soner Çağaptay on the crises facing Turkey’s Erdoğan

Soner Çağaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, on “A Sultan in Autumn: Erdogan Faces Turkey's Uncontrollable Forces” (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury). The book describes the myriad challenges facing the Turkish president at home and abroad.

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.

Natalie Rothman on dragomans of the Ottoman Empire, between East and West

Natalie Rothman on “The Dragoman Renaissance: Diplomatic Interpreters and the Routes of Orientalism” (Cornell University Press). The book shows how Istanbul-based translator-interpreters were key in shaping outside understanding of the Ottoman Empire, as well as in the Ottoman elites' diplomatic moves.

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.

Ömer Tekdemir on the Kurdish issue from the 19th century to today

Ömer Tekdemir on “Constituting the Political Economy of the Kurds: Social Embeddedness, Hegemony and Identity” (Routledge). The book is a sweeping account of the social, political and economic circumstances shaping the emergence of collective Kurdish identity from the late Ottoman era to 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.

Nicholas Danforth on memory and modernity in contemporary Turkey

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.

Buke Uras on the Balyan family and the Ottoman Armenian architectural legacy

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 many lives of Bursa from antiquity to today

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 the emergence of Greek nationalism in Ottoman Istanbul

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 on reimagining Turkish history and the roots of political dissent

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 on cosmopolitan life in port cities of the late Ottoman era

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.

Noel Malcolm on the Ottoman Empire and Islam in Western political thought

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 on Turkey's LGBT movement, from flourishing to crackdown

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 Turkey's cultural, political and religious footprint in the Balkans

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.