JHANA BACH
Amazon.com

Turkish Odyssey

A Traveler's Guide to Turkey and Turkish

Culture makes a fine complement to traditional guidebooks. Turn to Frommers, Let's Go, or Lonely Planet for restaurant and hotel suggestions, but revel in Turkish Odyssey's encyclopedic collection of all things Turkish. Descriptions of weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies give readers a quick primer on the customs and rhythms of everyday life. The first half of the book is composed of sections on religion, culture, state policies, history, and geography; the remaining 250-plus pages focus on places of interest: Istanbul and the Marmara region, the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, and central Anatolia. Hundreds of beautiful color photographs are lavished throughout the book, mixing scenes of quiet village life with the portraits of mosques, monuments, and natural wonders found in most guidebooks, including several re-creations of ancient sites to show what they may have looked like in their day. Unashamedly patriotic, this book is a native son's effort to correct oversights in Western guidebooks, and to tell the reader as much as he can about his homeland. Turkish Odyssey is a must for any traveler wanting to understand the Turks and their ancient land.