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.
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.
Check out and sign up to Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
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.
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.
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:
Listen to Turkey Book Talk: iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Spotify / RSS
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 #149 – E. Natalie Rothman, associate professor of history at the University of Toronto, on “The Dragoman Renaissance: Diplomatic Interpreters and the Routes of Orientalism” (Cornell University Press).
The book shows how Istanbul-based diplomatic translator-interpreters played a crucial role in developing outside understanding of the Ottoman Empire, as well as in the Ottoman elites’ various diplomatic manoeuvres.
Download the episode or listen below:
The e-book edition is available for free open access download from Cornell Open.
Also check out the Dragoman Renaissance Research Platform website, set up as a companion offering additional resources related to the project.
Listen to Turkey Book Talk: iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Spotify / RSS
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.
Turkey Book Talk episode #147 – Nicholas Danforth, non-resident fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, 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 between 1945 and 1960, years when Turkey held its first multi-party elections and joined the NATO alliance under the conservative Democrat Party government of prime minister Adnan Menderes.
Download the episode or listen below:
Listen to Turkey Book Talk: iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Spotify / RSS
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.
Turkey Book Talk episode #143 – 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 writer Refik Halid Karay (1888-1965), interrogating the long heritage and shifting meaning of political dissent from Ottoman to republican eras.
Download the episode or listen below:
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Check out Raziye Akkoç and Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
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, English and Turkish 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.
Turkey Book Talk episode #142 – Malte Fuhrmann, research fellow at the Liebniz-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 port cities of Salonica, Istanbul and Izmir in the late Ottoman era, when European cultural traits and economic developments had a profound impact on the daily experiences of locals across confessional boundaries.
Download the episode or listen below:
Listen to Turkey Book Talk: iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Spotify / RSS
Follow Turkey Book Talk on Facebook or Twitter
Check out Raziye Akkoç and Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
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, English and Turkish 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.
Turkey Book Talk episode #138 – Jenny White, professor at Stockholm University’s Institute for Turkish Studies, on “Turkish Kaleidoscope: Fractured Lives in a Time of Violence” (Princeton University Press).
The graphic novel, illustrated by Ergün Gündüz, tells the story of four young protagonists caught up in the social and political turbulence leading to Turkey’s 1980 military coup.
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Here’s a link to the Spotify playlist specially crafted to complement the book, featuring popular songs from the era.
Check out Raziye Akkoç and Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
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, English and Turkish 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.
Turkey Book Talk episode #137 – Jeremy Seal on “A Coup in Turkey: A Tale of Democracy, Despotism and Vengeance in a Divided Land” (Chatto & Windus/Penguin).
The book blends biography, history and reportage to explore the legacy of Adnan Menderes, who became the Republic of Turkey’s first democratically elected prime minister in 1950 before being overthrown in a military coup in May 1960. It also weaves this story in with developments in contemporary Turkey under President Erdoğan, who often presents himself as inheriting Menderes’ political legacy.
Download the episode or listen below:
Listen to Turkey Book Talk: iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Spotify / RSS
Follow Turkey Book Talk on Facebook or Twitter
Check out Raziye Akkoç and Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
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, English and Turkish 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.
Chiara Maritato on women in Turkey’s state religious agency
February 2, 2021
Turkey Book Talk episode #134 – Chiara Maritato, post-doctoral researcher at University of Turin’s Department of Culture, Politics and Society, on “Women, Religion and then State in Contemporary Turkey” (Cambridge University Press).
The book examines the causes and effects of women’s expanded role in Turkey’s state religious agency, the Diyanet, over the past 20 years.
Download the episode or listen below:
Listen to Turkey Book Talk: iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / Spotify / RSS
Follow Turkey Book Talk on Facebook or Twitter
Check out Raziye Akkoç and Diego Cupolo’s excellent Turkey Recap weekly newsletter.
Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get extras: Exclusive access to a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman history books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
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