Turkey Book Talk episode 161 – Daniel-Joseph MacArthur-Seal, assistant director of the British Institute at Ankara, on “Britain’s Levantine Empire, 1914-1923” (Oxford University Press).
The book examines British military occupation in Istanbul, Salonica and Alexandria through the letters, diaries and memoirs of servicemen during and after the First World War.
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As mentioned in the episode – if you’re interested in the subject you may also want to check out episode 142 – Malte Fuhrmann on cosmopolitan life in port cities of the late Ottoman era
Become a member on Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, links to related content upon publication of each episode, and over 200 book reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.
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Dilek Kurban on Turkey, the Kurdish question and the ECHR
February 1, 2022
Turkey Book Talk episode 160 – Dilek Kurban, Max Weber postdoctoral fellow at the European University Institute and adjunct faculty at the Hertie School in Berlin, on “Limits of Supranational Justice: The European Court of Human Rights and Turkey’s Kurdish Conflict” (Cambridge University Press).
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Become a member on Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, links to related content upon publication of episodes, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.
Check out and sign up to Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
Hakan Özoğlu on Mark Bristol and the founding of US-Turkey ties in the 20th century
January 18, 2022
Turkey Book Talk episode 159 – Hakan Özoğlu, professor of history and director of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Central Florida, on Admiral Mark L. Bristol, US high commissioner in Istanbul from 1919 to 1927.
Compared with many European diplomats during the period, Bristol had a relatively pro-Turkish, pro-Muslim perspective. His observations and recommendations helped shape US policy in the Ottoman Empire, and also helped lay the foundations of the strategic partnership between Turkey and the US during the Cold War.
Özoğlu is author of “The Decline of the Ottoman Empire and the Rise of the Turkish Republic: Observations of an American Diplomat, 1919-1927” (Edinburgh University Press).
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Become a member on Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% 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.
Check out and sign up to Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
Turkey Book Talk episode 158 – Çiğdem Oğuz, research fellow at the University of Bologna’s Department of History and Cultures, 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 among many.
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Become a member on Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% 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.
Check out and sign up to Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
Turkey Book Talk episode 157 – Murat R. Siviloğlu, assistant professor in Turkish Cultural History at Trinity College Dublin, on “The Emergence of Public Opinion: State and Society in the Late Ottoman Empire” (Cambridge University Press).
The idea of “public opinion” is generally associated with the emergence of a middle class, independent of the state, in Western Europe in the 19th century. The Ottoman Empire is generally seen as outside this process, but Siviloğlu argues that Ottoman society developed a realm of “public opinion” that had a crucial effect on political developments in the late 19th century.
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Become a member on Patreon 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.
Check out and sign up to Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
Maureen Freely on rediscovering leftist Turkish novelist Suat Derviş
November 23, 2021
Turkey Book Talk episode 155 – 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).
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Maureen Freely’s previous appearances on Turkey Book Talk:
Episode 18 – On Sabahattin Ali and translating ‘Madonna in a Fur Coat’
Episode 86 – On the life and work of Sait Faik Abasiyanik
Become a member on Patreon 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.
Check out and sign up to Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
Marc David Baer on the Ottomans as khans, caesars and caliphs
November 9, 2021
Turkey Book Talk episode #154 – Marc David Baer, professor of international history at the London School of Economics and Political Science, on “The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphs” (Basic Books).
The book makes the case that the Ottoman Empire is 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.
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Become a member on Patreon 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.
Check out and sign up to Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
Federico Donelli on Turkey’s push into Africa
October 26, 2021
Turkey Book Talk episode #153 – Federico Donelli, postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Genoa, on “Turkey in Africa: Turkey’s Strategic Involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa” (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury).
The book examines Ankara’s bid to boost its diplomatic, cultural, economic and defence influence in Africa, the effects this has had on the ground, and what to expect in the coming years.
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Become a member on Patreon to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury (including this one), transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.
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Yonca Köksal on Ottoman modernisation from the ground up
October 12, 2021
Turkey Book Talk episode #152 – Yonca Köksal, associate professor of history at Koç University, on “The Ottoman Empire in the Tanzimat Era: Provincial Perspectives from Ankara to Edirne” (Routledge).
The book compares and contrasts the application of the Ottoman Empire’s modernising, centralising Tanzimat reforms of the 19th century in the Balkan province of Edirne and the central Anatolian province of Ankara.
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Become a member on Patreon 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.
Check out and sign up to Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
Turkey Book Talk episode #151 – Giancarlo Casale, chair of early modern Mediterranean history at the European University Institute and associate professor of history at the University of Minnesota, on “Prisoner of the Infidels: The Memoir of an Ottoman Muslim in 17th Century Europe” (University of California 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.
Download the episode or listen below:
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Become a member on Patreon 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
September 14, 2021
Turkey Book Talk episode #150 – 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 political challenges facing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at home and abroad, and speculates about his potential response.
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A PDF of the book is available for free download via the Washington Institute’s website.
Listen to Turkey Book Talk: iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Spotify / RSS
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.
Turkey Book Talk episode #148 – Ömer Tekdemir, lecturer in political economy at Coventry University, 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.
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Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get extras including exclusive access to a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman history books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
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