Turkish Odyssey, A Traveler's Guide to Turkey and Turkish Culture

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Summary: Historical Inaccuracies
Review: Although it is a great traveller's guide, this book is full of historical inaccuracies. It approaches the history of the region with a cunning, not so obvious effort to avoid the Hellenic origins of the ancient inhabitants of Ionia, Anatolia, Kappadokia, Pontos and Eastern Thrace. Leaving out the Hellenic history of these areas, renders all relevant historical references of this book invalid. Furthermore, judging by the extent of the author's education, this seems to be deliberate. One should stick to the travelling information only. If you're interested in history, buy another book.

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Summary: A Turkish Guide
Review: I am also a tour guide working in Turkey. This present study of Yenen has always been very helpful for me in my three years profession. It is so nice to see a native book after contacting so many foreigners. Strongly recommended if you want more than a usual guide can give.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended Travel Guide
Review: It is a pity this book is not available on this site. I recently completed a trip to Turkey and purchased the book there. The author has done a magnificent job providing a historical context of a fascinating country (What is the difference between the Hattites and the Hittites, anyway?). Additionally,his discussions of Turkish life and culture broaden one's understanding of the country. (Why is paper not required when using Turkish toilets?) As several reviewers have noted this is not a traditional guide book in the sense of providing suggestions for eating, sleeping and shopping but it is a guide book in the sense of fully describing points of interest and for that reason it can be read before, during and after any trip to that country. The only caveat is that the book covers western and central Turkey, the Black Sea area and eastern Turkey are not included. One hopes the book becomes generally available in the U.S. in the future. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended Travel Guide
Review: It is a pity this book is not available on this site. I recently completed a trip to Turkey and purchased the book there. The author has done a magnificent job providing a historical context of a fascinating country (What is the difference between the Hattites and the Hittites, anyway?). Additionally,his discussions of Turkish life and culture broaden one's understanding of the country. (Why is paper not required when using Turkish toilets?) As several reviewers have noted this is not a traditional guide book in the sense of providing suggestions for eating, sleeping and shopping but it is a guide book in the sense of fully describing points of interest and for that reason it can be read before, during and after any trip to that country. The only caveat is that the book covers western and central Turkey, the Black Sea area and eastern Turkey are not included. One hopes the book becomes generally available in the U.S. in the future. Highly recommended!

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Summary: MALKOC SUALP
Review: MR SPYROS IS OBVIOUSLY STILL ENGULFED IN THE CYPRIOT ISSUE, THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT TURKEY FOR THE TRAVELLER, NOT A HISTORY BOOK, BESIDES TURKEYS HISTORY HOWEVER DISSAPOINTING THIS MAY BE FOR MR SPYROS IS FAR MORE COLOURFUL AND VAIRED THAN JUST THE HELLENIC INFLUENCE, IT HAS ROMAN, MACEDONIAN, PERSIAN, OTTOMAN, MONGUL AND MANY MORE INFLUENCES

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Summary: A Wonderful Book on Turkish Culture, Not a Travel Guide
Review: This book is a wonderful book to use to find out about Turkish culture. It has a overview of the history, geography, culture, foods, religion and sites of this amazing country. It is not a travel guide. Do not buy this if you are looking for a book to tell you where to spend the night in Istanbul. Do buy this book to find out those things you did not ask your guide in Turkey. I personally recomend it as a good way to begin finding out about Turkish culture, perfect to read and then discuss with your Turkish frineds before your trip to Turkey.

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Summary: An entertaining insight into Turkish culture.
Review: This is the book you will want to read after you've been to Turkey (which is not to say you shoudln't read it before going). It is not the typical "travel guide" with hotel and restaurant listings nor is it the typical "insight guide" with ponderous prose and more history than any but a history professor could love. If you want a book to carry as a reference, buy something else. For one thing, this book is too beautiful to ruin carting it about in your suitcase. There are over 300 excellent photos depicting the country and the people. The book is entertaining, easy to read, and beautiful to look at. Serif Yenen answers the odd questions every traveler has (but is usually afraid to ask his travel guide), and he is unabashedly proud of his Anatolia. (The author is a well known travel guide in Turkey and you may be interested to know that he maintains an informative web site for his travel company.) I would recommend this book to someone who has been to Turkey or is planning a visit and wants to have a greater connection to the people, traditions, culture and history.

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Summary: Turkish Odyssey is my choice of reference books about Turkey
Review: You get your first hint that this is a wrotten guidebook when you pick it up: it is incredibly heavy, easily over a pound. Who would want to lug that all over Turkey? As we discovered when we got there and opened it, no one. This is a poor coffee-table book masquerading as a guide book. Lots of pictures, with descriptions of places to visit that are only a little more informative than what you would find on the back of a postcard. No lists of hotels, places to eat, or anything like that. A waste of money for any traveller.