PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Andrew Mango was born in Istanbul. He complemented his knowledge of Turkish by studying Persian and Arabic at the School of Oriental Studies in London. From 1947 to 1986 he worked at the BBC, retiring as Head of South European and French Language Services. He has since been engaged full-time in the study of Turkish affairs. His next book, The Turks Today, will be published by John Murray in autumn 2004.
Few men have had such personal influence over the destiny of their countries as Mustapha Kemal, known as Ataturk ('father of the Turks'). Leader of the Turkish national movement from 1909 he rallied the Turkish armed forces against the proposed dismemberment of the Turkish heartland in 1919, then ousted the Greeks from Smyrna and extended Turkish power over much of Asia Minor. In 1923 he dissolved the old Ottoman Empire and became the first president of the new Turkish Republic. His legacy survives to this day in a now-powerful Turkey that lies strategically between Europe and Asia, and culturally between the West and Islam. Despite the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Turkey, Ataturk's stature within the country remains enormous, as this new biography, based on major new Turkish language sources, confirms. (Kirkus UK)
