[Discussion] H-TURK: Turkey: A Modern History [ Erik Jan Zürcher]

[sule tarakcioglu]

Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 15:33:14 +0100
From: I.B.Tauris Publishers <editorial@ibtauris.com>

- New Revised and Updated Edition -

Turkey
A Modern History
Erik J. Zürcher

424 pages
ISBN 1860649580

This substantially revised 3rd edition of this standard work builds upon
and updates its twin themes of Turkey's continuing incorporation into the
capitalist world and the modernization of state and society. It begins
with the forging of closer links with Europe after the French Revolution,
and the changing face of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. Zürcher
argues that Turkey's history between 1908 and 1950 should be seen as
a unity, and offers a strongly revisionist interpretation of Turkey's
"founding father", Kemal Atatürk.

In his account of the period since 1950, Zürcher focuses on the growth
of mass politics; the three military coups; the thorny issue of Turkey's
human right's record; integration into the global economy; the alliance
with the West and relations with the European Community; Turkey's
ambivalent relations with the Middle East; the increasingly explosive
Kurdish question; the worst economic crisis in 15 years in 1994; and
the continuing political instability and growth of Islam.

CONTENTS

Preface
Preface to the Third Edition
Glossary

Introduction: Periodization, Theory and Methodology

Part I Western Influences and Early Attempts at Modernization

1. The Ottoman Empire at the end of the Eighteenth Century
2. Between Tradition and Innovation: Sultan Selim III and the
     'New Order', 1789-1807
3. The Early Years of Sultan Mahmut II: The Centre Tries to
     Regain Control
4. The Later Years of Sultan Mahmut II: The Start of the Reforms
5. The Era of the Tanzimat, 1839-71
6. The Crisis of 1873-78 and its Aftermath
7. Reactionary Despotism or Culmination of the Reforms? The reign of
     Sultan Abdülhamit II

Part II The Young Turk Era in Turkish History (1908-50)

8. The Second Constitutional Period, 1912-18
9. The Struggle for Independence

10. The Emergence of the One-Party State, 1923-27
11. The Kemalist One-Party State, 1923-27
12. The Transition to Democracy, 1945-50

Part III A Troubled Democracy

13. The Rule of the Democratic Party, 1950-1960
14. The Second Turkish Republic, 1960-1980
15. The Third Republic: Turkey Since 1980

Notes
Maps Drawn by Russell Townsend
      The Ottoman Balkans
      Anatolia
      The Arab Provinces of the
      Ottoman Empire

Bibliographical Survey
Bibliographical Notes: Some Important Figures in Ottoman and Turkish History

Index


Author
Erik J. Zürcher is Professor of Turkish Studies at the University of Leiden.