Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds

by Stephen Kinzer

Book Overview

If Turkey lived up to its potential, it could rule the world - but will it? A passionate report from the front lines For centuries few terrors were more vivid in the West than fear of "the Turk," and many people still think of Turkey as repressive, wild, and dangerous. Crescent and Star is Stephen Kinzer's compelling report on the truth about this nation of contradictions - poised between Euroep and Asia, caught between the glories of its Ottoman...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374131430
• ISBN13: 9780374131432
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Great book on Turkey

had previously read Kinzer's excellent account of the CIA organized 1953 coup in Iran, so when I saw this book I was quite excited to read his take on Turkey, where he lived for several years as a journalist. And I wasn't disappointed. Excellently written, he describes the past, present, and future of Turkey in a way that both exposes the countries myriad problems as well as showing the promise of the county's future. Turkey is definitely on the move, and I find the country quite fascinating, as I'm sure you can tell by now. Kinzer, unlike many who write about the contemporary Middle East, truly has a respect for the people and their culture, and this allows him to analyze the politics and culture of the society in a way unencumbered by Orientalist images of `the other'. I wish I could write like this guy, and I recommend this book for anybody who wants an intro to Turkey today.

Turkey: Destined to Become the World's Greatest Democracy?

"Crescent and Star" is a very intriguing, accessible, and passionately written overview of Turkey, with special emphasis on its struggle to emerge as a democratic state. While some have complained that this book is "shallow," I think that's being overly harsh, since, with all the history and varied cultures that have defined modern-day Turkey, copious volumes could still be written that would provide new insight. Author Stephen Kinzer should be credited with producing a fluidly written and I daresay exhilirating introduction to this fascinating nation that, as the subtitle suggests, literally and symbolicallly stands between "two worlds." Kinzer comes across as a sort of "cheerleader" for Turkey and the Turkish people, not hiding his hopes that this tradition-steeped nation reach its potential to become the world's first Islamic democracy. And why shouldn't he cheer? The implications of Turkey attaining this goal are nothing short of staggering. As Kinzer points out, Turkey is faced with the challenge of forging a secularist, free, multicultural, and economically strong nation. It's enticing destiny is not to become another United States, but to achieve a world stature that will in certain ways exceed that of the United States. The U.S. became the world's poster-nation for freedom, in large measure, because its history was forged in a relatively short time, unencumbered by centuries-old antagonisms. You often hear that peace is hopeless in the Middle East because of the anciently rooted antagonisms that continue to fester. Kinzer shows glimmers of hope that Turkey, while never dismissing nor forgetting its history, may just be capable of breaking free of its oppressive grasp. This is something the U.S. never had to overcome. Turkey's success would forever put to rest the argument that Middle East nations are incapable of peace because history works against that goal. Turkey would be the first to show that, while history defines what a nation is, a nation can nevertheless become the author of its own history, making it hopeful. It is this perspective that Kinzer lays out, and it is easy to understand why he is so enamored with it. After reading"Crescent and Star," you will be too. You will also understand why those who are committed to perpetuating the sad and worn out legacy of violence and extremism will continue to hope that Turkey does not succeed.

Devlet & Raki

Having traveled to Turkey numerous times for both business and vacation (I generally spend two weeks each summer in Istanbul and Bodrum), I thought Kinzer did a spendid job of describing the crossroads Turkey is at. In the aftermath of September 11th, the book is particularly relevant, as it examines what is frequently being referred to as the "model" for a secular Islamic state. The book is also an easy read for anyone interested in Turkey and its important future role in Middle East/Central Asia-Western relations, as it provides an excellent view into the various internal and external conflicts Turkey has had to address, without becoming too bogged down in a detailed history. Although at times fairly critical of the Turkish government and military, generally, the captivating spirit and culture of the Turkish people shine through.The vignettes that precede each chapter about the author's experience with Turkish culture - swimming the Bosphorous, enjoying raki (the Turkish national drink), attending olive oil wrestling and camel fights, and even spending a night in a Turkish jail - add a wonderful personal and human touch to the book.All in all, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Turkey and/or current affairs in the Middle East/Central Asia.

A centered, rational view of Turkey.

Thank you, Mr. Kinzer.To all reading this, please buy this book if Turkey or world cultures interest you.I've heard Turkey and Turks called everything from genocides to barbarians to philistines to militarists and just as easily, I've heard the country brushed off as if it's just another fragment of a nation, a third-world country. The problem is that Turkey is only half-known, and Turkey is half-sure of what it must do.The book makes clear all the difficulties of Turkey and its search for a place in the sun. Yes, there were massacres of Armenians after their support of Russia in WWI. Yes, there have been several military coups that tortured thousands of people. Yes, the Kurdish wars were terrible and kept secret by the government. But what were the circumstances of these events? Kinzer answers all, taking the right people to task for the crimes in Turkey's past.The wonderful thing is that Kinzer doesn't shy away from the awful realities, the eccentricities, and the outright pitfalls of Turkey's quirky system. He tells it all how it is, but he obviously loves the country all the same. He just hopes it will fix its flaws as he knows it can.I am of Turkish descent but this book written by a non-Turkish American thoroughly deepened my appreciation for the country. If you're attracted by the book at all, follow your instincts and pick it up.

how bright the future ?

A truly modern Turkey governed by the rule of law would raise the Turkish people to levels of prosperity and self-confidence they have never known before. Despite the country's political and psychological underdevelopment, it has the resources to become a towering power. If it can liberate itself from its paralyzing fears and embrace true democracy, it will also serve as a magnetic example of how the ideals of liberty can triumph over enormous obstacles. By adding moral strength to its military strength, Turkey could become a dominant force in the Middle East, encouraging peace and pulling Arab countries away from the social backwardness and feudal dictatorship under which most of them now suffer. It could exert a mighty and stabilizing influence westward to the Balkans and eastward to the Caucasus and Central Asia, becoming the key power in a region that is strategically vital, overwhelmingly rich in oil and other resources, and now ruled mostly by tyrants who are dragging it toward chaos. -Stephen Kinzer, Crescent & StarThough we pay obscenely little attention, Turkey is an extraordinarily important nation and its future may go a long way to determining whether Islam and democracy can ultimately co-exist in one nation. Geographically and politically, Turkey occupies a unique position, squeezed between Europe to the West and the Islamic world to the East. Though traditionally Muslim, its great revolutionary leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, upon taking power in 1922 and establishing a Republic, reoriented the nation towards the West, toward the values of the Enlightenment and the institutions of secular democracy. But still today, despite the continuing devotion of Turks to the person and ideas of Ataturk, it remains an open question as to whether the democracy can endure.Stephen Kinzer was the NY Times correspondent in Turkey for four event filled years and his passion for the country and its people is infectious. In conversational but admonitory style he manages both to educate Westerners as to the history and cultural richness of Turkey while also honestly depicting its internal problems, many of them unresolved, and firmly prodding Turks to deal with them, as a great nation must.One very effective device Kinzer uses is a series of brief interludes each dealing with one element of Turkish life. These include : the fez; raki, the national drink; the nargile, or water pipe; the nation's three favorite sports--camel fighting, oil wrestling, and cirit (a form of jousting); the literature of Nazim Hikmet; and the romantic endeavor of swimming the Bosphorus. These quick chapters provide a rich and fascinating texture to go along with the history.The hero of the story is very much Ataturk, who at least in Kinzer's portrait seems to have been one of the most remarkable national leaders of the 20th Century. Like Peter the Great in Russia and the Shah in Iran, which not coincidentally are the two other equ