Some Books About Turkey

Turkey lacks no number of books written about it in English, but I wanted to post about two that I've read recently for those interested in the country.

Turkey: Federal Research Study and Country Profile (Kindle)
This first book was written by researchers at the Library of Congress and reads like a comprehensive (400 page) encyclopedia entry about Turkey. While boring, it's the most comprehensive non-partisan book about Turkey probably ever written. Looking at the history, geography, economy, politics, and military of Turkey going back centuries. The history overview was fascinating and helpful for me, particularly the changes made after the 1981 coup. If you want to know more details about Turkey than anyone else, read this book. The book only goes through the mid-1990s however, so you miss the remarkable decade to follow.

But the second book can help fill that gap:

Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future tells the story of parallel struggles for democracy in both Turkey and Iran. Kinzer is the author of The Crescent and the Star which is usually a recommended read about Turkey (here's my brief review).

Most Americans don't know that private American citizens were active in joining pro-democracy militias and fighting the Shah's armies in Iran in the late 1800s, for which there are monuments paying tribute to them still standing in Iran today. (The irony of this is that of course that after WWII, the CIA later worked to undermine Iranian democracy and support the Shah.)
Turkey's struggle toward basic human rights and democracy also began in the late 1800s as reforms began to be pushed on the last of the Ottoman Sultans. After the Ottoman Empire's disastrous defeat in World War I, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk helped lead the military struggle for independence as well as the political battles for democracy and modernization.

Kinzer compares Atatürk with his Iranian counterpart, Reza Shah Phalavi. Atatürk's strong hand and personality cult helped quickly bring some European-style modernity to Turkey whereas Reza Shah was only able to implement a few of the goals of the Constitutional Revolution. Kinzer chronicles Reza Shah's visit to Turkey where Atatürk takes him on a tour of the country, including a visit to a nude belly dancing exhibition--an activity both rulers apparently wanted full appreciation of in their respective countries as an example of secularism.

Kinzer's book portray's Atatürk's life in some detail, particularly focusing on his devotion to secularism and disapproval of religion. Iran's 20th century struggles are also detailed. While Atatürk is still revered (the summer weather here reveals all the Atatürk signature tatoos on women's arms), Reza Shah was deposed and replaced by his son, whose brutal reign was famously ended in 1979.

He offers an overview of Turkey's changes under Recep Tayip Erdoğan and the remarkable economıc growth since the 1990s. Kinzer also details America's relationship with these two countries and offers recommendations for the Obama administration. (Some of these recommendations and other tangents in the book I've chronicled in a separate review here.) About 1/3 of this book is fascinating history about Turkey that Kinzer didn't chronicle in Crescent and the Star, so I recommend it.