Books about Turkey in Conjunction with Amazon On-line Books
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Reviews Louis de Bernières, the Observer Review, June
15, 1997 |
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This classic account shows how the fall of Constantinople in May 1453, after a siege of several weeks, came as a bitter shock to Western Christendom. The city's plight had been neglected, and negligible help was sent in this crisis. To the Turks, victory not only brought a new imperial capital, but guaranteed that their empire would last. To the Greeks, the conquest meant the end of the civilisation of Byzantium, and led to the exodus of scholars stimulating the tremendous expansion of Greek studies in the European Renaissance. |
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This book offers an insight into the harem and harem life, focusing on the famed Seraglio of Topkapi Palace. The author uses her first-hand experience to describe the absolute rule of the sultans, the slave markets and the eunuchs. The book is illustrated with paintings by Delacroix, Ingres and Renoir, Turkish woodcuts, Persian miniatures, photographs and film stills. Croutier investigates the middle class harems, looking at the polygamous life of ordinary Middle Eastern households, including marital customs, child rearing, medical practices, superstitions and the expression of desire and jealousy. "Harem" shows how this Eastern institution invaded the Victorian imagination, in the form of decorating, costume and art and how Western ideas, in turn, eroded a system which had seemed to be absolutely powerful. |
The critical and biographical introduction tells of Lady Wortley Montagu's travels through Europe to Turkey in 1716, where her husband had been appointed Ambassador. Her lively letters offer insights into the paradoxical freedoms conferred on Muslim women by the veil, the value of experimental work by Turkish doctors on inoculation, and the beauty of Arab poetry and culture. |
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Liotard's fine portraits of Westerners in Turkish dress, Carpaccio's turbanned figures and the coveted 'Turkey' carpets that appear in paintings by Lotto and Holbein bear witness to a deep Western fascination with all things Ottoman. It is this cultural influence, spanning five hundred years - from the fall of Constantinople through to the twentieth century - that unites the wealth of paintings, drawing, photographs and decorative objects in this sumptuously illustrated book. The result is a visual feast of Turkish delights, from the exotic allure of the harem and Turkish baths to Ottoman-inspired Western interiors and pavilions; from paintings of Europeans in gorgeous Turkish costume to carpets, silks, tulips, turbans, Iznik tiles, coffee, tobacco, croissants...The delightfully informative text explains how Turkey, the gateway to the East, became a fountain of inspiration for so many artistic and cultural fields - painting, ceramics, textiles, interiors, fashion - in the West. Today the many fruits of this cultural meeting, enticingly displayed in this book, will engage a fresh audience with the decorative possibilities of the ravishing colours, motifs and furnishings of tradition |
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Because it was fought so close to his old home ground, Homer might have seen this war on the Gallipoli Peninsula as an epic. Brief by his standards, but essentially heroic. Shakespeare might have seen it as a tragedy with splendid bit-parts for buffoons and brigands and lots of graveyard scenes. Those thigh bones you occasionally see rearing out of the yellow earth of Gully ravine, snapped open so that they look like pumice, belong to a generation of young men who on this peninsula first lost their innocence and then their lives, and maybe something else as well. Gallipoli remains one of the most poignant battlefronts of World War I and L.A. Carlyon's account of that campaign brings this epic tragedy to life and stands as both a landmark chapter in the history of the war and a salutary reminder of all that is fine and all that is foolish in the human condition. |
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This survey of Ottoman architecture treats the subject chronologically and within its historical perspective, making reference to Byzantine, Persian and Selcuk examples. There is a discussion of the effects of conquests, religions and social organization, and alongside the descriptions of mosques are studies of the layout and function of the buildings which came to be grouped around the mosques - schools, baths, hostels, kitchens, fountains, mausolea, and shops. Seeking to appeal to those interested in Islamic art as well as architectural history, buildings are described with a minimum of technical terminology. A glossary of Turkish words is provided and there is a chronological table listing Ottoman rulers and historical events. |
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This travel companion to Istanbul offers a comprehensive guide to the city. The guide offers 21 walks around the city, plus numerous maps and plans. Also included are recommended hotels and restaurants, details of local transport and useful addresses.
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