 | Blue Guide Turkey, Third Edition (Blue Guides) by Bernard McDonagh
Buy used from: $34.95 It's simply the best -- for historical, architectural, and archaeological coverage. For practical details -- hotels, restaurants, shopping, getting from A to B -- see the other guides listed below.
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 | Blue Guide Istanbul, Fifth Edition (Blue Guides) by John Freely
Buy used from: $113.45 The Blue Guide: Turkey only covers Istanbul in summary fashion. This book does the details. Terrific city maps. Freely is THE Istanbul expert.
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 | Fodor's Turkey, 5th Edition: Where to Stay, Eat, and Explore, Smart Travel Tips from A to Z, Plus Maps and Co lor Photos (Fodor's Gold Guides) by Fodor's
Buy used from: $0.01 OK, here it is -- all that essential, handy practical information that Blue Guides aren't designed to convey.
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 | Lonely Planet Turkey by Pat Yale
Buy used from: $1.68 These are serious guides for serious travelers, packpackers or not -- albeit with a definite budget focus.
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 | Lonely Planet Istanbul by Tom Brosnahan
Buy used from: $2.24 Again, Lonely Planet is always worth your consideration, even if you're not staying in youth hostels.
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 | Lonely Planet Istanbul: City Map (City Maps Series) by Lonely Planet
Buy used from: $27.01 It's one of the world's most historic and interesting cities -- and the streets give new meaning to the word "labyrinth." Get a good map, or get lost!
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 | The Rough Guide to Turkey, 5th Edition by Rough Guides
Buy new: $23.95 / Used from: $1.99 Rough Guides try to strike a balance between the Blue Guide and Fodor's approaches, and to combine the best of both. Includes more upscale hotel and restaurant listings than the LP guides.
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 | Turkey From the Air by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Buy used from: $28.10 Aerial picture books not only make great souvenirs after you return, but may help you decide in advance what you want to see.
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 | Turkey: An Aerial Portrait by Stephane Yerasimos
Buy used from: $14.95 Another wonderful book of aerial photos of a country that's filled with striking, unforgettable landscapes and monuments.
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 | Splendors of Istanbul: Houses and Palaces Along the Bosporus by Chris Hellier
Buy used from: $51.30 A more intimate and focused photo volume. When you take the Bosphorus cruise from Istanbul to the Black Sea (as you must!), this book will help you appreciate what you're seeing.
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 | Hellenistic Architecture in Asia Minor by James Steele
Buy used from: $17.49 You're wondering whether all those marble cities along the west and south coasts are really your cup of tea? This book is full of excellent photos to help you decide.
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 | A Traveller's History of Turkey by Richard Stoneman
Buy used from: $0.74 Asia Minor has an incredibly interesting and varied history. This book will give you a basic briefing on the Hittites, Lydians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks, & Ottomans.
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 | In Search of the Trojan War, Updated edition by Michael Wood
Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $0.13 Yes, the Trojans lived in Turkey as well. This companion to the TV series is a historical detective story looking for the truth behind the legends.
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 | Ancient Turkey: A Traveller's History by Seton Lloyd
Buy new: $17.79 / Used from: $12.25 OK. You're hooked -- you want more on Turkey's ancient civilizations, from the Hittites to the Romans! Essential if you're doing the west and south coasts.
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 | The Histories (Penguin Classics) by Herodotus
Buy new: $7.91 / Used from: $4.48 "The English Patient" made Herodotus hip -- even sexy. If you'd like something besides standard airline reading to drop into your travel bag, try The Father of History (and travel writing).
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 | A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey by Clyde E. Fant
Buy new: $19.79 / Used from: $14.15 Bone up on your biblical sites -- the Apostle Paul hailed from Tarsus and knew Ephesus, Colossae, and Alexandrias Troas and Assos well.
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 | A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich
Buy new: $12.21 / Used from: $3.42 So that's where it was! And they ruled the land bridge between Asia Minor and Europe for 1100 years? Quick, get me a short history! (Or read the full 3-volume set for even more history and drama.)
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 | Byzantine Monuments of Istanbul by John Freely
Essential if you love Byzantium. Freely knows the Byzantine monuments of Istanbul better than anyone else except the art historians & archaeologists.
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 | The Fall of Constantinople 1453 (Canto) by Steven Runciman
Buy new: $13.71 / Used from: $8.40 The final fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks is one of history's most dramatic stories. Nobody tells it, and portrays the antagonists Constantine XI and Mehmet II, better than Steven Runciman.
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 | Istanbul: The Imperial City by John Freely
Buy new: $11.56 / Used from: $5.86 It's got 2,500 years of history -- and it was the seat of two great empires and for 1,600 years was one of the richest and most important cities in the world. This is a good introductory summary.
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 | Ottoman Centuries by Lord Kinross
Buy new: $14.78 / Used from: $3.31 It's dryly written and full of stupid mistakes proof-readers should have caught 5 editions ago. Nonetheless, it's the best introductory survey I know of the Ottoman sultans.
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 | Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of the Sultans in Istanbul by John Freely
Buy used from: $20.00 Istanbul expert John Freely turns his hand to a colorful retelling of the lives of the Ottoman sultans and the women who lived, schemed and seduced inside the Seraglio. Good travel reading.
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 | Lords of the Horizon: A History of the Ottoman Empire by Jason Goodwin
Buy used from: $2.75 Not a straight chronological history -- more an impressionistic treatment of the Ottoman years that gets away from an exclusively Sultan-oriented focus.
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 | A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin
Buy new: $14.40 / Used from: $5.00 Another great suitcase book. The epic ten years that gave us the modern Middle East, peopled with the likes of Churchill, the original "Young Turks," Ataturk, T.E. Lawrence, and Gertrude Bell.
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 | Turkey: From the Seljuks to the Ottomans (World Architecture) by Henri Stierlin
Buy used from: $19.88 200+ dazzling color photos, and several dozen building plans. The text is somewhat secondary, but not without merit. 80 pages on the buildings of Sinan, the Ottoman answer to Bernini and Wren.
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