Ottoman Odyssey

Travels Through a Lost Empire

Alev Scott

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781643130750
• eBook ISBN:
  9781643131665
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: History

An exploration of the contemporary influence of the Ottoman Empire on the wider world, as the author uncovers the new Ottoman legacy across Europe and the Middle East. Alev Scott's odyssey began when she looked beyond Turkey's borders for contemporary traces of the Ottoman Empire. Their 800 years of rule ended a century ago—and yet, travelling through twelve countries from Kosovo to Greece to Palestine, she uncovers a legacy that's vital and relevant; where medieval ethnic diversity meets twenty-first century nationalism—and displaced people seek new identities. It's a story of surprises. An acolyte of Erdogan in Christian-majority Serbia confirms the wide-reaching appeal of his authoritarian leadership. A Druze warlord explains the secretive religious faction in the heart of the Middle East. The palimpsest-like streets of Jerusalem's Old Town hint at the Ottoman co-existence of Muslims and Jews. And in Turkish Cyprus, Alev Scott rediscovers a childhood home. In every community, history is present as a dynamic force. Faced by questions of exile, diaspora and collective memory, Alev Scott searches for answers from the cafes of Beirut to the refugee camps of Lesbos. She uncovers in Erdogan's nouveau-Ottoman Turkey a version of the nostalgic utopias sold to disillusioned voters in Europe and America. And yet—as she relates with compassion, insight, and humor—diversity is the enduring, endangered heart of this fascinating region.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• Map
• Introduction: Sultans Old and New
• A Historical Note: Classified Infidels
• Turkey: Heart of the Empire
• Scattered Pomegranates
• Ghosts of Troy
• Minarets in the West
• Spires in the East
• Memleket
• Timeline of Countries
• Notes
• Index
• Also by Alev Scott
• Copyright