Rating: 
Summary: A good overview.
Review: This book is a nice introduction to Turkey as it gives good historical information that puts the current political situation in perspective. It is also written by someone who has obviously spent a lot of time in Turkey and understands Turks and what life is like in Turkey. The book is very entertaining and is a must for anyone looking for a good background book about Turkey or for anyone that will be traveling there as well.
Rating: 
Summary: a Turkish testament
Review: I don't know Stephen Kinzer from a bar of soap, but I could bet he's a very likeable guy. I used to read his articles in the New York Times with great pleasure, back in those years when he was covering Turkey and wrote many pieces on the new nations in the Caucasus and Central Asia too. For the first time, in Kinzer's articles, the subscribers got more than just election or disaster news---we got coverage of all kinds of cultural, social, and economic trends in Turkey. I always hoped Kinzer would write a book on the country. He did and I bought it. If I compare it to an academic tome like Caglar Keydar's "State and Class in Turkey", CRESCENT AND STAR reads as smooth as silk, even if the depth of the ideas is not so great. It is a highly informative, journalistic look at modern Turkey, a country at a political, historical crossroads. Turkey has managed to burst the economic straitjacket that bound it for decades; the Kurdish insurrection has been squelched, and relations with Greece improved beyond all belief. There is a strong possibility that the country will join the European Union in the next decade. Yet, a number of political problems remain. Kinzer points out again and again that the conservative, but secular military elite dominates the civilian politicians, who often are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. In turn, civil liberties have been denied because the behind-the-scenes military class feels that Turkey "is not ready" for full freedom. The role of religion, i.e. Islam, in society has yet to be decided. There are a few hotheaded fundamentalists, many who want a stronger role for Islam under democracy, and many more who don't want Islam to play any role at all. Is it a good idea to push the whole issue into a corner ? Kinzer liked Turkey. You can feel that on every page in the book. Liking the country, having friends there, he wanted to use his journalistic power to best advantage, to strike a blow for his friends, who like him, believe in freedom and democracy, and see a bright future for Turkey if it goes down that road. I too, from a great distance, sympathize with this picture. I like people who don't hide behind some abstract "objectivity". But I am afraid his desire to help turned the book into something of a polemic. As he discusses each of the main aspects of modern Turkish politics and society---Ataturk, the party politics, the military, the Kurds, Islam, censorship and repression, the great earthquake of 1999, and relations with Greece-we receive the same lecture a number of times. Encourage dissent, he cries, embrace ethnic and religious diversity, own up to the Armenian massacres of 1915 or at least discuss them, give religious people a voice in society, let Parliament have the ultimate power instead of the soldiers, decentralize, don't lose Ataturk's desire for change and modernization, and above all, trust your own citizens to be mature enough to choose what they want in government. If you don't mind this rather heavy-handed insistence on the same theme, then CRESCENT AND STAR is an excellent book for anyone wanting to know the main issues, trends, and political feelings in modern Turkey. The sections Kinzer refers to as "snacks" or meze are all very interesting. Another book on modern Turkish life and culture as seen by an American ? Please.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading for Turkish people
Review: CRESCENT AND STAR is a fun, informative read. Turkey is becoming a popular destination for Westerners (unless they're Greek and mad about Cyprus) and this book shows us why. Turkey has been in the middle of things politically and culturally for so long, and yet the country and its people are pretty much a mystery to most Americans. Mention Turkey, and images from MIDNIGHT EXPRESS spring to mind. But every person I know who has visited has had great things to say: the people are hospitable, it's cheap, there's a lot to do and see, and the food is superb. It's also important for us to understand our allies, and Turkey has been courageous enough to stand with the US even though it's been criticized for doing so. Turkey also shows us how Islam and secular society can co-exist. This is important now, as Muslims become a stronger political voice, in the US and in Europe.
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