Turkey Unveiled

Turkey today defies easy categorization. Friends speak of the Turks as blunt yet hospitable, inhabiting a land rich in history and culture, a member of the E.U. and strategic ally to the United States. Detractors cite military coups and concerns about Islamic fundamentalism. Turkey Unveiled reveals this extremely complex country, now in a newly updated edition covering the first decade of the 21st century and the most recent developments in Turkey. The authors, who speak fluent Turkish and have reported from the country for twenty years, provide a rich mosaic of contemporary Turkey and its formative past. The strengths and weaknesses of the Ottoman Empire, the Armenian tragedy, the Kurdish struggle, the controversial legacy of the brilliant but autocratic founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, are all here. They also provide portraits of new leaders who have broken taboos and ushered in new freedoms at a time when other forces attempt to pull Turkey back into the Middle Eastern vortex.