Synopses & Reviews
If Turkey lived up to its potential, it could rule the world - but will it? A passionate report from the front linesFor centuries few terrors were more vivid in the West than fear of "the Turk," and many people still think of Turkey as repressive, wild, and dangerous. Crescent and Star is Stephen Kinzer's compelling report on the truth about this nation of contradictions - poised between Europe and Asia, caught between the glories of its Ottoman past and its hopes for a democratic future, between the dominance of its army and the needs of its civilian citizens, between its secular expectations and its Muslim traditions.
Kinzer vividly describes Turkey's captivating delights as he smokes a water pipe, searches for the ruins of lost civilizations, watches a camel fight, and discovers its greatest poet. But he is also attuned to the political landscape, taking us from Istanbul's elegant cafes to wild mountain outposts on Turkey's eastern borders, while along the way he talks to dissidents and patriots, villagers and cabinet ministers. He reports on political trials and on his own arrest by Turkish soldiers when he was trying to uncover secrets about the army's campaigns against Kurdish guerillas. He explores the nation's hope to join the European Union, the human-rights abuses that have kept it out, and its difficult relations with Kurds, Armenians, and Greeks.
Will this vibrant country, he asks, succeed in becoming a great democratic state? He makes it clear why Turkey is poised to become "the most audacious nation of the twenty-first century."
Review
"Kinzer's adventures in Turkey gave him in-depth knowledge and real appreciation for the country and its potential . . . He makes a powerful case that it is a country we must watch." --John Maxwell Hamilton,
Chicago Tribune"This critical but affectionate portrait of Turkey's recent history throws considerable light on the complex ways of this strategically important ally of the West." --The Economist
"A powerful, directed, and important book. . . . Crescent and Star amounts to an impressive achievement with a high potential to make a difference."--Middle East Quarterly
"A thoughtful study of the wrenching problems that hold Turkey back--and it's an engaging read to boot."--Stanley Reed, Business Week
About the Author
Stephen Kinzer is a veteran foreign correspondent who has covered more than fifty countries on four continents. In 1996 he became the first
New York Times bureau chief in Istanbul; he is now that paper's national culture correspondent, based in Chicago. He is the author of
Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua and co-author, with Stephen Schlesinger, of
Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala.