The Shortest History of Turkey

Autorentext

Benjamin C. Fortna is professor of history and director of the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona and formerly professor of the history of the Middle East, SOAS, at the University of London. He received his degrees from Yale, Columbia, and the University of Chicago, and has published numerous books on the Ottoman Empire, the early Turkish Republic, and modern Turkey. He has appeared on the BBC programs Who Do You Think You Are? and The Ottomans: Europe's Muslim Emperors. He lives in Tucson, AZ.

Klappentext

Through more than nine centuries of shifting borders, environmental change, and political evolution, Turkey has been a cultural melting pot and a nation-state bent on ethnic unity. It has seen conquest and reform, appeals to tradition and calls to modernize. It has been a home to Christians, Jews, Muslims, and more, and it has aggressively pursued both secularization and Islamization.

Built on the foundations of the Ottoman Empire-the most enduring, and perhaps the most important, Islamic empire in history-Turkey's long, complex history is beset by political and religious turmoil. But the country's national story also illuminates a rich culture developed over thousands of years, reflecting culinary diversity, artisan craftsmanship, and architectural achievement.

In this concise yet nuanced overview, historian Benjamin Fortna examines Turkey's complex trajectory from ancient Byzantine civilization to modern republic, through to the present-day leadership by the populist, authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In just 250 pages, Fortna reveals how opposing visions of Turkey have shaped its national identity and its people-and its place in contemporary history.

The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

Inhalt

Timeline Introduction: Competing Visions of Turkey PART 1: THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

1. Ottoman Origins

2. From Principality to Empire

3. Imperial Consolidation

4. Imperial Heights

5. Decentralization PART 2: FROM EMPIRE TO REPUBLIC

6. Internal and External Challenges

7. Reforms

8. Imperial Resistance

9. Opposition and Revolution: The "Young Turks"

10. The Great War

11. The "National" Movement PART 3: THE TURKISH REPUBLIC

12. The Early Republic, or the "Single Party Period"

13. The Democratic Era

14. Return of the Guardian State

15. Towards a Turkish-Islamic Synthesis

16. The Justice and Development Party Era Conclusion: Republican Centennial and Imperial Ghosts Acknowledgments Image credits Index