Turkey - Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture [Paperback]

Charlotte McPherson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2006 | Series: Culture Smart!

Culture Smart! provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships.

Culture Smart! offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience. Contents include


* customs, values, and traditions
* historical, religious, and political background
* life at home
* leisure, social, and cultural life
* eating and drinking
* do's, don'ts, and taboos
* business practices
* communication, spoken and unspoken


"Culture Smart has come to the rescue of hapless travellers." Sunday Times Travel

"... the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries." Global Travel

"...full of fascinating-as well as common-sense-tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas." Observer

"...as useful as they are entertaining." Easyjet Magazine

"...offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world." New York Times

Editorial Reviews

Review

Culture Smart! has come to the rescue of hapless travellers, Sunday Times Travel - ...the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries, Global Travel - ...full of fascinating, as well as common sense, tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas, Observer - ...as useful as they are entertaining, Easy Jet Magazine - ...offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world, New York Times.

About the Author

CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON is an American who has lived in Turkey since 1979. For her graduate studies at Indiana University she specialized in Uralic Altaic languages and history. She has an MA in Anthropology, and during the 1980s she conducted extensive research in Turkey and Central Asia among Turkic-speaking peoples. She has lectured in Social Anthropology at Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul, and has written many scholarly papers and several books. She is currently Vice President of the Turkish-American Cultural Association in Istanbul, where she owns and manages a major English-language bookstore, Greenhouse.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Kuperard; Reprinted edition edition (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857333268
• ISBN-13: 978-1857333268
• Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 0.5 x 6.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Travel > Asia
  • #27 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Customs & Traditions
  • #49 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Etiquette > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the price for the new traveler to Turkey, November 5, 2010

By 

D. D. LeDu "Wanderer" (California, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Turkey - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture (Kindle Edition)

My wife and I had been to Turkey for a few days last year, along the Med coast. This year we spent six weeks traveling by foot and minibus in south central Turkey. For our purposes, we found this book useful.

It was not so much that it taught us how to act, but it helped us understand much that we observed and experienced. We spent most of our time in Kurdish areas, but the book was equally enlightening there.

One shortcoming is that the book does not delve into the intracacies of dealing with both Turks and Kurds. We sometimes inadvertantly made mistakes, such as asking a Turk if he were Kurdish, or saying "thank you" in Turkish while in a 100% Kurdish village, or later saying "thank you" in Kurdish to a Turk.

Nevertheless, I know of no other book that is as helpful, and I recommend it to anyone who intends to leave the predominately tourist areas.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential for travels, June 19, 2008

By 

David J. Powell (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Turkey - Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture (Paperback)

If you are a casual traveler to Turkey or a serious one, these books are essential to read, to know the customs and habits of the country. It is not only useful, it is a courtesy you should show to ever country you step foot on their soil. We'd want people visiting America to know about us what this book tells us about Turkey. Read it, absorb it, and follow it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read, January 23, 2010

By 

Clay (South Dakota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Turkey - Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture (Paperback)

I think this is the best guide for Turkey on the market. If you're going there you need to look at this book.