Ataturk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey

by Andrew Mango

Book Overview

Andrew Mango's revealing portrait of Atat rk throws light on matters of great importance today-resurgent nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and the reality of democracy. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 158567334X
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Abrams Press
• Length: 704 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 2.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Superbly researched, massively comprehensive

Mustafa Kemal, known to the world as Ataturk, the "father of the Turks", is one of the more important figures in 20th-century history overall and an essential figure in an appreciation of the Middle East. While scholarship on the Ottoman Empire, into which he was born, and the Republic of Turkey, which he helped create, are both quite advanced, this is one of the very few biographies about the man himself. Fortunately, Andrew Mango has written a comprehensive and thorough book. While other reviewers have complained about certain aspects of Mango's work, these criticisms are largely unfounded. The abundance of Turkish (and Ottoman) terms with translations is obviously necessary to understand the life and times of a man who ascended to lead that country, and the cast of supporting characters who fought alongside and against the subject are also necessary to understand the history of the events in question. While many of the names are confusing to the casual reader, this is an unavoidable fact of the history of that part of the world. As for the criticism that Mango shifts topics within paragraphs, this is simply laughable in its evident lack of familiarity with the book in question. In writing this biography of Ataturk, Mango has had to tread a very fine path. In Turkey even today, he is revered as a great leader who almost single-handedly saved the nation from oblivion. Thankfully, Mango corrects some of this glowing hagiography by demonstrating that comments attributed to Ataturk date from many years after the events in question and were in fact made to serve a particular agenda. Mango does not, however, over-correct and paint an unsympathetic picture of the man. What emerges, rather, is an enigmatic man with unquestionable talent and vision as well as an unwavering self-belief. Speaking as a historian, I don't envy Mango his task of painting such a complex character. Admittedly there are omissions and a rather fond characterisation of the Ottoman Empire in its decay. For the latter, it is probably safe to say that this was at least the impression of the late Empire which would have been held by Ataturk and some of his contemporaries (at least before the First World War). For the former, the scholarship of the rest of Ataturk's life outweighs much of these omissions. As mentioned above, this is heavy-going as a casual read. The sheer volume of locations, battles, military positions and contemporaries of Ataturk will confuse many readers. Likewise, the scholarly rigour with which Mango addresses himself to the task is perhaps less suited to a non-specialist reader. However, for both the specialist and the non-specialist who is prepared to read a considerable amount of detail (remembering that this is a biography of both a military leader and a man who had unquestioned political power, and who developed a political ideology over his long career), it comes highly recommended.

A Man, A Vision, A Country

Andrew Mango first gives his readers an excellent introduction to the declining Ottoman Empire so that they better understand where Mustapha Kemal Atatürk was coming from. The Ottoman Realm, though modernizing slowly, no longer had the means to live up to its ambitions and was shrinking fast under pressure of competing empires and nascent states at the end of the nineteenth century. Furthermore, the Ottoman State was undermined internally by increasingly restive minorities that no longer accepted their subservient condition, as well as, by part of the elite that was dissatisfied with the perceived backwardness and incompetence of the Ottoman ruling class. Born in Salonica in today's Greece around 1880 in a Muslim, Turkish-speaking and middle-class family, Atatürk early on made up his mind to join the westernizing army and thereby discard the external signs of oriental life. Mango narrates with mastery the steady progress that Atatürk, a successful and popular student, made during his military education. Work was all that mattered to Atatürk. Atatürk became a politically savvy professional soldier while studying hard during his years of military education in Istanbul, the imperial capital. After his admission to the prestigious Staff College at 21, Atatürk kept in touch with his military friends who were assigned elsewhere, a circle that would reveal its greatest usefulness in the accession of Atatürk to the highest post of Modern Turkey two decades later. Because of his subversive political activities, Atatürk was assigned not to Europe but to the Near East after finishing his studies in 1904. Mango does a great job in giving background information, which helps readers understand the environment in which Atatürk was bound to as a soldier while he actively remained involved in politics through his connections in the empire before, during and after WWI. In 1908, the Society of Union and Progress, of which Atatürk became a member, served as the launching path for the Young Turks in their successful military coup. Atatürk understood very fast that the Young Turks, even with the help of Germany later on, were not up to the task to save the empire from its ultimate downfall after the end of WWI. Atatürk was still too junior to play a key role in the new administration. As usual, Atatürk was critical of the new ones on top because he alone deserved to be leader. From 1911, Atatürk, still an obscure officer, progressively rose to preeminence. Atatürk first tried to quell rebellions in the disintegrating empire before WWI. Atatürk then illustrated his military superiority when he decisively helped ruin the allied venture at Gallipoli in 1915. After a new promotion in 1916, Atatürk, very resentful of the Germans for continuously meddling into military operations from the beginning, spent two agitated years in the Near East where he did what he could to slow down the advance of the allies until the end of WWI. Officers who ultimately playe

Superb! Ataturk is a fascinating read

I'm a Canadian half-Turk who has been fascinated by Turkish and Balkan history. Though I've read Kinross and some of the primary sources in Turkish, this book is a highly informative and bold account of early 20th century Turkish history with Ataturk as the main character but with many other personas in sharp focus. From the influence due to the rabid and hysterical propaganda of the politicians among the Armenian-American diaspora (note: not the regular people, especially our younger generation), it is hard to debate about these issues and even consider some of the historical characters objectively in the US. Mango does this bravely (not worried about denting his book sales) and in a scholarly fashion, but the book as as engrossing as a masterfully worked novel, so even if you aren't well versed in Turkish history it will be an enjoyable read. This should be a textbook in business school courses, as Ataturk was one of the best managers in recent history.

I can't imagine a better account

A masterful biography. As a non-Turk with an above-average interest in the country, the account only rarely and briefly lost my interest. I can't imagine a better Ataturk biography being written. It is accessible yet comprehensive enough for all but specialist academics. The story and the man are fascinating and the major issues raised are many and topical: East/West relations, Islam/Modernity, Developing Nations/Democracy, Traditional culture/Globalism....Great read.