FACULTY LEADER & Educational Resources

Crowley, Roger. 1453, The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West. Hyperion, 2006. In this well-paced history, Crowley recounts the dramatic events leading up to and surrounding the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. (PAPER, 304 Pp.)

King, Charles. Midnight at the Pera Palace, The Birth of Modern Istanbul. W. W. Norton & Company, 2015. A 20th-century history of the Near East through the prism of one of its greatest cities, Istanbul, and its famous hotel, the Pera Palace. (PAPER, 480 Pp.)

*Kinzer, Stephen. Crescent and Star. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008. This insightful, anecdotal report on contemporary life, culture and politics in Turkey comes from a former New York Times Istanbul bureau chief who is especially attuned to the powerful geographic position of Turkey and its multiple identities in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. (PAPER, 265 Pp.)

Pamuk, Orhan. The Museum of Innocence. Alfred Knopf, 2010. Pamuk plumbs the depths of romantic attachment while exploring the tension between modernity and tradition in 1970s and 80s Istanbul. (PAPER, 560 Pp.)

*Pamuk, Orhan. Istanbul, Memories and the City. Random House, 2006. Nobel Prize-winner Pamuk writes with dazzling grace of the city of his birth, a magical place of crumbling mansions and Ottoman riches. (PAPER, 320 Pp.)

Ahmad, Feroz. Turkey, The Quest for Identity. Oneworld Publications, 2014. In this concise history, Ahmad presents Turkey as a nation caught between the ideologies of East and West, honored as the first secular republic in the Islamic world. (PAPER, 252 Pp.)

Danforth, Nick. Piety, Power, and Politics in Turkey: Ankara’s Traveling Korans. Foreign Affairs, 2017. An enlightening article about the Smithsonian exhibit “The Art of the Koran: Treasures from the museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts” Published in Foreign Affairs magazine.

Finkel, Andrew. Turkey, What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press, 2011. From the Kurdish question to economic policy, Turkey’s role in Iraq and its quest for EU membership, Finkel illuminates the past and present of this strategically important nation in lively, straightforward prose. The Istanbul-based journalist brings balance and insight to the task. (PAPER, 188 Pp.)

*Goodwin, Jason. Lords of the Horizons. Picador USA, 2003. Goodwin artfully combines his modern travels with scholarship, history and reflection, capturing the outrageous personalities, events and vagaries of the 600-year-old Ottoman Empire. (PAPER, 351 Pp.)

Kinzer, Stephen. Reset, Iran, Turkey, and America’s Future. Griffin Publishing, 2011. A master storyteller with an eye for grand characters and illuminating historical detail, Kinzer introduces grand themes and larger-than-life figures, like a Nebraska schoolteacher who became a martyr to democracy in Iran, a Turkish radical who transformed his country and Islam forever, and a colorful parade of princes, politicians, women of the world, spies, oppressors, liberators, and dreamers. (PAPER, 284 Pp.)

Lloyd, Seton. Ancient Turkey, A Traveller’s History. University of California Press, 2013. A lively tale of cultures and conquest, from the Hittites to St. Paul, that illuminates the living past of Turkey’s archaeological treasures. This classic by Professor Lloyd, first director of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, is now in a 25th anniversary edition. (PAPER, 240 Pp.)

Norwich, John Julius. A Short History of Byzantium. Alfred Knopf, 1998. A richly detailed and evocative history of the span of the great empire from the fourth to the 15th century, brimming with intrigue, palace revolution and treachery. (PAPER, 432 Pp.)

Stoneman, Richard. A Traveller’s History of Turkey. Interlink Publishing Group, 2009. An accessible, well-written overview of Turkish history from the Paleolithic to the present. (PAPER, 247 Pp.)

Murphy O’Connor, Jerome. St. Paul’s Ephesus, Texts and Archaeology. Michael Glazier, 2008. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor transports us back to the ancient city of Ephesus during its heyday, including contemporary accounts from Roman to biblical times and featuring a guided walk through the city as a center of Paul’s teachings. (PAPER, 289 Pp.)

Pamuk, Orhan. The Innocence of Objects. Harry N. Abrams, 2012. Pamuk combines old movie stills, photographs of mundane objects, family portraits and other ephemera of everyday life in this illustrated portrait of his beloved Istanbul. (PAPER, 264 Pp.)

Rodley, Lyn. Cave Monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia. Cambridge University Press, 2010. A professor of Byzantine Studies, Lyn Rodley puts the rock-cut monasteries, hermitages and complexes of Cappadocia into historical context in this scholarly account, first published in 1985. (PAPER, 284 Pp.)

Giacon, Alfredo. The Magic of Turkey, A Guide to the Turkish Coast. Sheridan House, 2008. This spirited account of an Italian couple’s two-year voyage covers the bays, anchorages, ancient sites and allure of the coast from Izmir to Bodrum, Fethiye and Antalya. (PAPER, 192 Pp.)

Hansen, Suzy. Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2018. A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine, Hansen writes a vivid memoir/political critique of American foreign policy. She confronts her own insular upbringing in New Jersey while coming to terms with non-Western views on America through years of living in Turkey and traveling in Greece, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran. (PAPER, 288 Pp.)

Milani, Abbas. The Shah. St. Martins, 2012. An Iranian scholar and director of the Iranian Studies program at Stanford, Milani chronicles the life and legacy of the last Shah of Iran, including his role in the creation of the modern Islamic republic, in this incisive portrait. (PAPER, 488 Pp.)

Seal, Jeremy. Meander: East to West, Indirectly, Along a Turkish River. Bloomsbury USA, 2012. Jeremy Seal sets out in a kayak across the Anatolian plateau to explore, mixing history, travel and incisive commentary on Turkey in his third book on the country. He is, ahem, digressive, though that is part of the charm of this engrossing travelogue. (PAPER, 320 Pp.)

Settle, Mary Lee. Turkish Reflections, A Biography of a Place. Touchstone, 1991. Settle’s captivating travelogue is a richly detailed portrait of contemporary Turkey, its people, monasteries, myths, archaeological treasures and living traditions. Exemplary. (PAPER, 253 Pp.)

Sewell, Brian. South from Ephesus. St. Martins, 2012. The sharp-tongued, often petulant but marvelously witty British art critic travels from Ephesus to archaeological sites along the Turkish Aegean to Priene, Miletus, Bodrum and beyond in this reprint of his quirky 1988 classic. (PAPER, 288 Pp.)

Stark, Freya. The Lycian Shore. St. Martins, 2011. The Lycian coast and hinterlands are thoroughly explored in this reprint of a classic account of a 1950s journey by the stalwart Freya Stark, one of our heroines. Heading south from Smyrna, Stark explores rock tombs of Xanthus, shores of the Dalyan River, Hellenic cities of Termessos and Perge and other sites along the Aegean. (PAPER, 216 Pp.)

*Goodwin, Jason. The Janissary Tree. Picador USA, 2007. With beautiful descriptions of Istanbul and its palaces, this engaging and bizarre historical mystery will keep you reading. The Ottoman Empire mysteries continue with The Snake Stone and The Bellini Card, set in 1840s Venice. (PAPER, 336 Pp.)

MacAulay, Rose, and Jan Morris (Introduction). The Towers of Trebizond. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2012. Mixing high farce, archaeology, history and lively travel writing, Rose MacAulay’s impossibly witty short novel is back in a new edition. Originally published in 1956, the book follows the adventures of English missionaries traipsing across Turkey from Istanbul to Trebizond. (PAPER, 277 Pp.)

Shafak, Elif. The Architect’s Apprentice. Viking, 2016. Set in 16th-century Istanbul, this tale of a young boy, a white elephant and Sinan, the soulful master architect for Sultan Mehmed is as much about these three characters as the growth of the Ottoman Empire. Rich in plot and character development and reminiscent of Turkish folk literature, this is arguably Shafak’s best novel. (PAPER, 384 Pp.)

Eyewitness Guides. Eyewitness Guide Istanbul. DK Publishing, 2016. This superbly illustrated guide features unique cutaways, floor plans and reconstructions of major architectural sights, plus a pull-out map clearly marked with attractions and an easy-to-use street index. (PAPER, 280 Pp.)

Kurklu, Arzu. Lonely Planet Turkish Phrasebook. Lonely Planet Publications, 2014. A palm-sized handy guide to pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler. With a 2,000-word mini- dictionary. (PAPER, 260 Pp.)

McPherson, Charlotte. Culture Smart! Turkey. Kuperard, 2014. History, religion, daily life, food, health and safety are all covered in this pocket guide to customs, etiquette and culture. (PAPER, 168 Pp.)

Rutherford, Tristan. National Geographic Istanbul and Western Turkey. National Geographic, 2011. Abundantly illustrated with a focus on maps and sightseeing, this compact guide includes 50 pages on Cappadocia, the Turquoise Coast and other popular destinations. (PAPER, 272 Pp.)

Dolbee, Sam. Ottoman History Podcast. Episode 3: “Rumi’s World.” (Gratien, Chris). https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2020/09/persianate.html

Geoghegan, Patrick. Istanbul: A History of a City. https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-talking-history/istanbul-history-city

Hayes, Rosa. The History of the Ottoman Empire Podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-the-ottoman-empire/id457651564

Hodder, Ian. Çatalhüyük: a 9000 year old town. Zammù TV-Università de Catania. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmFKBf50Vol

Pierson, Robin. The History of Byzantium Podcast. Podcast with multiple episodes relating the history of the Roman Empire from 476 to 1453. https://www.youtube.com/c/thehistoryofbyzantium.com

National Geographic TV. Hidden Gems of Turkey. 2000-present. https://www.natgeotv.com/za/shows/natgeo/turkeys-hidden-gems#:~:text=National%20Geographic-,Synopsis,own%20personal%20point%20of%20view. (Includes documentaries on Hagia Sophia and Cappadocia)

Sinan: A Divine Architect. Remmelt Lukkien. Documentary (52 minutes) 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWrwc_pxciw