Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #162778 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-04
• Released on: 2004-08-12
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 424 pages

Review
"Zurcher's book will make an excellent textbook for students approaching the study of Turkey for the first time, in addition to serving as a valuable aid to scholars looking for a comprehensive, well-written fusion of differing interpretations of Turkish history...This book is destined to remain a standard text in its field."--Lawrence Tel, International Affairs

"...a valuable addition to scholarly literature."--Andrew Mango, TLS

About the Author
Erik J. Zürcher is Professor of Turkish Studies at the University of Leiden.

Customer Reviews

A balanced history of Turkey
This is a serious book about the emergence of modern Turkey. It provides a fairly balanced account of the history of late Ottoman Empire and of Turkey, not a mean feat considering the explosively politicized nature of the subject. For this very same reason, it is not surprising that revisionists (including some illustrious Amazon reviewers) have taken issue with the mainstream version of important events presented in the book.
For instance, the author's recognition of the Armenian Genocide is taken to be nothing more than a proof of European anti-Turkish prejudices!!!!
To be sure, the book is not perfect, e.g. the lack of specificity in its analysis of Ottoman institutional structures (especially those of the key 18th century), the total lack of reference to anti-Jewish persecution, etc.
In general though, this is a serious and carefully researched account of an important part of Turkish History. Throughout the book, one can clearly see that the author's obvious respect for the Turkish people and culture is much more genuine than that of Turkey's self-proclaimed "apologists".

Something Old, Something New
Erik Zurcher has done a service to all who may have an interest in recent history of Turkey, filling a much-needed gap. This is the second revised edition of the original 93 publication. It expands even more on the recent and more modern history in great detail. It is a nice compliment to Bernard Lewis' "Emergence of Modern Turkey". Zurcher has done a lot more than just reposting known history from other traditional sources. There is much new insight and analysis. Most of it is balanced, but he still has failed to refrain from "recommending" a "multi-national" state "solution" to the Kurdish "problem". As if there is any possibility of it, or as if, after all he has researched and explained about modern Turkey, he would not know, better than anyone else that the unitary nature of the state is what has enabled it to exist in the first place. Given all their ethnic mixes, how often does one encounter a successful model of such a "state" in Europe or Eastern Europe or Middle East? Why such an enlightened solution is rarely pushed ahead in other similar situations, is a mystery. Germany still has to this day, purely ethnic based citizenship laws for example. Besides, why is a democracy that guarantees all individual freedoms to all citizens and makes no distinction among them is still found lacking?

Though he occasionally acknowledges the long history of parliamentary and constitutional rule in Turkey, the judicious and brutally honest study of all the blemishes and imperfections of Turkish democracy throughout decades, creates or more like helps propagate the idea that Turks are in general still not comfortable with the concept of democracy, or that they still do not "get" it. It would have put things in better perspective if Zurcher for example had briefly mentioned what was going on in Europe through 20s, 30s and 40s and even 50s while Turkish democracy one way or another managed to stay on track.

While history of various political parties and their roles has been very well covered, not all topics of importance have received the same attention. Turkey's EU vocation is treated somewhat superficially for example.

The best MODERN history of Turkey
This is the probably the best history of Turkey in the modern period now available in English. Zurcher makes the point that his is a MODERN history of Turkey, rather than just a history of modern Turkey. The distinction is important, as he utilizes a wealth of recent resarch to flesh out the fairly one-dimensional and celebratory approach of many earlier Western writers dealing with Turkey, such as Bernard Lewis. Zurcher deals objectively with topics, such as social and ethnic problems, that are often neglected by some other writers.

The book emphatically does not display anti-Turkish bias, as suggested by Mr. Pipes in his review below; the Armenian genocide may indeed be an "incendiary" topic in Turkey, but its reality is accepted by serious historians throughout the world, and to conclude that it was ordered by the government in power at the time is hardly controversial except among Turkish-nationalist circles and those who seek to curry favor with them.

All in all, an excellent account, by a master of the field.