Turkey is a complex country. If you have time to prepare for your trip by reading books, watching movies or listening to music ahead of time, you will get more out of your trip. Many of the items listed below are available through the public library system. It’s also fun to look at the hotel websites ahead of time. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

 

RECOMMENDED NON-FICTION

 

Any guidebooks such as Lonely Planet, Let’s Go, Cadogan, Rick Steves Europe 101, Rick Steves Istanbul,  Fodor’s, Rough Guide, Blue Guide or Frommer’s will be useful.   One that is a little different that lots of people love because of the beautiful photographs is called: Turkey: Eyewitness Travel Guide—this one is worth owning.   A specific guide for Istanbul called “TimeOut: Istanbul” is excellent.

A Traveller’s History of Turkey by Richard Stoneman  For those of you who want an overview of Turkey’s amazingly complex and long history, this starts with prehistoric Anatolian history and proceeds through the Hittites, Persians and so on until the present time period.  Amazingly readable considering the amount of history it covers!

Culture Shock! A Guide to Customs and Etiquette –Turkey by  Arin Bayraktaroglu  Should one take off shoes when entering a house?  What does a tongue click and a head toss upwards mean? These and many more important questions answered.  Well worth reading!

Conversational Turkish in 7 Days  by Tayfun and Gilllian Caga 

Travelers’ Tales: Turkey—True Stories edited by James Villers, Jr.     This is a nice collection of short stories with a wide variety of topics such as How to Buy a Turkish Rug, A Wedding in Ekinklik, The Blue Voyage, The Road to Urfa, and Clash of the Camels

Turkey’s Religious Sites by Anna Edmonds  A beautifully done book and special note to you Bainbridge folks—this book was created by a one of our own Bainbridge neighbors!  The book covers biblical sites, churches, mosques, synagogues and temples and has excellent maps and photographs.

Tales from the Expat Harem: Foreign Women in Modern Turkey by Anastasia Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Gokmen  Stories of the lives of women who have  moved to Turkey. Many have married Turkish men.  Interesting perspectives.

Ataturk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey  by Andrew Mango    If you are going to Turkey, you must know something about Ataturk to understand this country.  This is a huge, very thorough biography. It's a little overwhelming. If you don’t have time to read an entire book, at least google Ataturk and read some short articles.  Ataturk = Turkey!

The Essential Rumi  translations by Coleman Barks  A nicely done book for those of you who would like to become familiar with the writings of one of the famous Sufi mystics, Rumi.  On the extension trip we will be stopping in Konya, the center of the Mevlevi Order founded by Rumi’s followers after his death.

Turkish Reflections-A Biography of a Place  by  Mary Lee Settle, a National Book Award winner.  She offers an intimate portrait of a place that captured her heart as she sets out on a cross country odyssey.

Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds   by Stephen Kinzer  A very readable book by a veteran foreign correspondent who provides a report on Turkey and the great dilemmas it faces.  Filled with personal details as well.  Makes it clear why Turkey might-or might not- become “the most audaciously successful nation of the twenty-first century.”  

The Turks Today by Andrew Mango   Details Turkey’s political development from the death of Ataturk until the present day.

Istanbul-Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk  Although not a personal favorite of mine, many people love the books by this Nobel Prize winning author.  You be the judge!

 

RECOMMENDED FICTION

 

Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres (the author of Corelli’s Mandolin) This is a beautiful novel interspersed with short historical informational  bits about Ataturk.  The main characters come from a village, now abandoned that we will be visiting on our Summer 2008 tour. (Kayakoy)  There is a moving letter in the book written by a main character to his mother while he is on a battlefield in Gallipoli.  On our tour, you will have a chance to see the original letter that this letter is based on. 

The Ottoman Cage- a Novel of Istanbul  by Barbara Nadel  (Also Belshazzar’s Daughter and many others)  This is a murder mystery set in Istanbul.  Quite an interesting way to learn about the culture and have an enjoyable read at the same time. Ms. Nadel has written a series of murder mysteries set in Istanbul.  Those of you who enjoy this genre might enjoy learning about Istanbul through this series.

Snow by Orhan Pamuk A challenging read. Won a Nobel Prize.  Some like it.  Some don’t.  But everyone has heard of it. Set in contemporary times in a city in Eastern Turkey.

My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk  Another challenging read.  Set in Ottoman times.  Some feel this is the stronger novel.

The Janissary Tree: A Novel  by Jason Goodwin  This is a mystery set in Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire and is a fun way to learn about this era.

The Iliad by Homer--translated by Robert Fitzgerald   Why not reread this classic before you visit Troy, the site of the Trojan War and visit Bodrum the legendary birthplace of Homer?

 

RECOMMENDED DVD'S/CD'S

 

Rick Steves DVD Greece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt   The sections on Istanbul, Western and Central Turkey cover many of the same sites that we will be visiting.  (ricksteves.com)

Crossing the Bridge: The Sound Of Istanbul DVD 90 minutes in Turkish and German with English subtitles.  Was in the Cannes film festival.  Director Fatih Akin creates a documentary to introduce the the world to the diversity and musical creativity in the heart of Istanbul ranging from modern electronic, rock and hip-hop to classical “Arabesque”.  This film is aimed at the young or young at heart.  (amazon.com or netflix)

Putumayo Presents: Turkish Groove  CD  Various contemporary musical artists.   Great collection!  (amazon.com)

in istanbul-in the city-DVD travel guide  For those of you who live on Bainbridge, this is available at the public library.  It's a quirky, hip, entertaining city guide put out by a group from the Netherlands that includes categories such as fashion, night clubs, Turkish langugage tips, parks, hotels, shopping and more.  Examples: Where to find rabbit fortune telling, how to sneak into members only hot night clubs

 

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES

 http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/  This is an on-line newspaper written in English.  It's a great way to get up-to-date information about what is happening in Turkey right now.  It's well written and very interesting.

http://www.tourismturkey.org/index.htm     Official site for the Ministry of Turkish Culture and Tourism.  Excellent site with lots of good information.  I recommend contacting this agency and asking them to send their DVD and tourist brochures which are all quite beautiful

http://www.armadahotel.com.tr/pg_en/  Armada Hotel in Istanbul

http://www.kolinhotel.com/    Kolin Hotel in Canakkale

http://www.kismet.com.tr/index-kusadasi.htm   Kismet Hotel in Kusadasi

http://www.colossaehotel.com/en/index.php  Colossae Hotel at Pamukkale

http://www.themarmarahotels.com/bodrum/overview.php  Marmara Hotel in Bodrum 

http://www.swissotel.com/gocek/z950/index.htm  Swiss Hotel in Gocek

http://www.marinaresidence.net/eng/index.html   Marina Hotel in Antalya

http://www.uchisarkayaotel.com/index.asp   Kaya Hotel in Cappadocia region

http://www.peace-on-earth.org/Turkey/tr12.html  Great photos of Turkey

http://www.photographersdirect.com/buyers/search.asp?search=turkey&maximages=40&sz=0&l=on&p=on&s=on&w=on&imagenumber=40  Some very nice professional shots of Turkey (although there are also some shots of actual turkey birds included as well!)

http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/root&page=1  Some more wonderful photographs of Turkey

http://tomyturkey.com/index.htm    This is the website for a travel agency specializing in services to Turkey.  If you press their “ABOUT” button, they have wonderful informational sheets about Turkey well worth reading. 

www.RosettaStone.com  If you are interested in learning the Turkish language, I highly recommend starting with the immersion computer based method sold by this company.