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*SHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR.* A journey across the former Ottoman Empire reveals its legacy and the integral diversity threatened amid rising nationalism.
A lovely, lyrical and always insightful account that is as much about the present as the past. A joy from start to finish
Beautifully written with clear-eyed judgements and a sharp ear for fascinating anecdote and memorable characters. Exhilarating and often eye-opening, it shows this crucial region of the world from a new perspective. Essential reading for anyone interested in Turkey and its history
Alev Scott approaches the crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean by side roads and unfrequented channels. Her book is clear, bright, humane and never disheartened.
Brilliantly written with a real feel for character, the book is a pleasure to read and an erudite lesson in a fascinating chapter of Modern History. An indispensable addition to our understanding of the Middle East today.
This is a book full of fun, "I never knew that" moments . . . Scott's mission is not to tell the history of the calamitous way the British and French dismantled the empire. Her aim is to find out whether the bits left behind as Ottoman imperialists became Turkish nationalist have common threads . . . She is fascinated by the survival and difference of forgotten, represses and otherwise threatened minorities
Moving and amusing
Beautifully written - combines history, travel writing and personal discovery . . . Scott's writing is lyrical . . . She writes with a maturity and insight that belies her age, and is surely a rising star of the literary world. Her overall message is one of optimism.
Despite the bloody histories and ugly contemporary realities she seeks to investigate, Scott is always entertaining. She regales her reader with witty pen portraits.
Alev Scott was born in London in 1987 to a Turkish mother and a British father. She studied Classics at Oxford before working in London as an assistant director in theatre and opera. In 2011 she moved to Istanbul, where she taught Latin at the Bosphorus University. Her first book, Turkish Awakening, was published in 2014. Alev writes for numerous publications, including the Guardian. Her second book, Ottoman Odyssey, was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award in 2019. Her third book is Power & the People, written with Andronike Makres.