Ataturk: A Biography of Mustafa Kemal, Father of Modern Turkey [Paperback]

Patrick Balfour Kinross (Author), Lord Kinross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1992

The recent events in the Persian Gulf have made it clearer than ever that understanding the history of the Middle East is essential if a solution is to be found for its problems today. The story of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is an important and enthralling part of that history. 6 maps.

Product Details

• Paperback: 615 pages
• Publisher: Quill; 1ST edition (January 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688112838
• ISBN-13: 978-0688112837
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 2.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #626,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( A ) > Ataturk

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What you need to know about the making of the Turkish nation, August 7, 1999

By 

[e-mail] Gonzalo Madrigal (San Jose, Costa Rica) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ataturk: A Biography of Mustafa Kemal, Father of Modern Turkey (Paperback)

Found by chance in a small bookstore this is one of the best books I have ever read. Finely written, it will give you all the detail you need to understand the last days of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of the Turkish Nation. Even if you are not that interested in the subject it will draw you into the fascinating detail of the life of a truly extraordinary man in extraordinary times. Buy it...you will enjoy it without being able to put it away.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Novelesque; a triumph in style, December 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Ataturk: A Biography of Mustafa Kemal, Father of Modern Turkey (Paperback)

Kinross approached this biography in a very unconventional manner, and the gamble paid off. Often historical subjects like Ataturk can reach into the "heavy reading" column with complicated military, social, diplomatic and political explanations. But Kinross gambles by trusting the intelligence of the reader, and depends more on conveying the strong, abrasive character of Ataturk than on the intricit, deeply-calculated broad social mechanics that surrounded him. You will walk away knowing in-depth the end of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the Turkish Republic while getting a clear insight into the character of Ataturk: his strengths and his shortcomings. As time goes by, it is more and more important to understand Kemalism and the course of secularization and modernization in the East.

The diagrams of the battle-fields on a mile scale were extremely helpful: for those, like me, who aren't adept at reading and understanding military strategies, Kinross gives you an introductory course. For the first time, I felt like I actually *knew* what happened in some important battles.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A splendid biography of a 20th Century Titan, August 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ataturk (Hardcover)

Ataturk is, for most Westerners, the Unknown Titan of the Twentieth Century - towering over most of the centuries leaders and up there in the Pantheon with Churchill, de Gaulle, Roosevelt and Truman. Ataturk's vision, courage and generosity of spirit would have marked him out as exceptional in any period, but his achievement in creating a new, modern, forward-looking nation on the ruins of a corruption and strife-ridden empire that had finally collapsed after centuries of decline is unprecedented. Ataturk - Mustapha Kemal - did not just remake Turkey, giving it new hopes, new visions and new liberties, - even a new alphabet - but he remade himself in the process, coping with personal weaknesses and failings and never letting them master him. Tough, courageous, ruthless when necessary, Ataturk nevertheless balanced these qualities with compassion and humanity. Like many great soldiers turned politicians he never lost sight of the fact that yesterday's enemy must be tomorrow's friend if the mistakes of the past are not to be perpetuated. This masterly biography covers every aspect of Ataturk's life in detail and is the ideal introduction for the open-minded Westerner eager to understand modern Turkey and its heroic people. I first read it in 1967 and it remained as an inspiration for me until I had the privilege and pleasure of living and working in Turkey a quarter century later. I then reread it with even greater delight and was able to make a personal pilgrimage to Ataturk's severe and dignified mausoleum (which he would probably never have wanted) in Ankara. Ataturk's portrait hangs in my study and this book has a place of honour on my shelves - if you love history and seek personal inspiration then get it at all costs!