Travel
Asia
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Ottoman Odyssey: Travels Through a Lost Empire
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.
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.
Editorial Reviews
"Scott tracks the vine of Turkish influence, ‘architectural, political and social,' that laces through the Levant and the Balkans." ― New York Times Book Review
"An illuminating view of post-imperial attitudes and relationships from a very different empire." ― Asian Review of Books
"An ambitious travel memoir/history, tracing the footsteps of ‘descendants of ancient minorities that were allowed to flourish in the empire, and [were] then intimidated, ignored or expelled from modern Turkey.' The author grounds her thoroughly researched narrative in history and past travel accounts, and she injects it with earnest, wry observations and personal interviews with the many interesting people she met along the way. In her quest to understand her complicated, tense childhood, Scott treats us to a lively grand tour of the lost Ottoman Empire and shows how contemporary leaders exploit simplified versions of history to support nationalist agendas." ― Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"An insightful and easily approachable combination of travelogue and history. Essential reading for those interested in how historical mythologies warp and contort individual lives." ― Publishers Weekly
"Scott roams through elements of the Ottoman Empire in this bright travel narrative. She laces history with footloose journeying and the result is a restless, kaleidoscopic, and chromatic portrait of a land in flux." ― Christian Science Monitor
"A brilliant travelogue. Beautifully written. This book is only Scott's second, yet she writes with a maturity and insight that belies her age, and is surely a rising star of the literary world. Her overall message is one of optimism: that identity is as much about language as it is about location and religion; and that a 'shared culture' will trump jingoistic national differences." ― The Telegraph (UK)
"Alev Scott approaches the crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean by side roads and unfrequented channels. Her book is clear, bright, humane, and never disheartened." -- James Buchan, author of 'Days of God'
"Scott-whose mother is Turkish and whose father is British-gives both an insider's intimacy and an outsider's necessary remove to this excellent survey." ― Booklist
"A lovely, lyrical, and always insightful account that is as much about the present as the past. A joy from start to finish." -- Peter Frankopan, New York Times bestselling author of 'The Silk Roads
"Beautifully written with clear-eyed judgments and a sharp ear for fascinating anecdote and memorable characters. Exhilarating and often eye-opening, it shows this crucial region of the world from a new perspective. Essential reading for anyone interested in Turkey and its history." -- Michael Wood, author of 'In Search of...
"An illuminating view of post-imperial attitudes and relationships from a very different empire." ― Asian Review of Books
"An ambitious travel memoir/history, tracing the footsteps of ‘descendants of ancient minorities that were allowed to flourish in the empire, and [were] then intimidated, ignored or expelled from modern Turkey.' The author grounds her thoroughly researched narrative in history and past travel accounts, and she injects it with earnest, wry observations and personal interviews with the many interesting people she met along the way. In her quest to understand her complicated, tense childhood, Scott treats us to a lively grand tour of the lost Ottoman Empire and shows how contemporary leaders exploit simplified versions of history to support nationalist agendas." ― Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"An insightful and easily approachable combination of travelogue and history. Essential reading for those interested in how historical mythologies warp and contort individual lives." ― Publishers Weekly
"Scott roams through elements of the Ottoman Empire in this bright travel narrative. She laces history with footloose journeying and the result is a restless, kaleidoscopic, and chromatic portrait of a land in flux." ― Christian Science Monitor
"A brilliant travelogue. Beautifully written. This book is only Scott's second, yet she writes with a maturity and insight that belies her age, and is surely a rising star of the literary world. Her overall message is one of optimism: that identity is as much about language as it is about location and religion; and that a 'shared culture' will trump jingoistic national differences." ― The Telegraph (UK)
"Alev Scott approaches the crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean by side roads and unfrequented channels. Her book is clear, bright, humane, and never disheartened." -- James Buchan, author of 'Days of God'
"Scott-whose mother is Turkish and whose father is British-gives both an insider's intimacy and an outsider's necessary remove to this excellent survey." ― Booklist
"A lovely, lyrical, and always insightful account that is as much about the present as the past. A joy from start to finish." -- Peter Frankopan, New York Times bestselling author of 'The Silk Roads
"Beautifully written with clear-eyed judgments and a sharp ear for fascinating anecdote and memorable characters. Exhilarating and often eye-opening, it shows this crucial region of the world from a new perspective. Essential reading for anyone interested in Turkey and its history." -- Michael Wood, author of 'In Search of...
Readers Top Reviews
Zak Van StraatenKimb
Marvellous travels & insightful commentary through the outcomes of Ottoman Empire. Alev Scott writes in lively, thoughtful, fashion.
Cascade
I liked everything about Alev Scott's book--the tone, the scope, the details, the prose, what I learned. (This is vague, I know, but the book is not!)
Kindle
I really wanted to like this book. And overall, I enjoyed the idea of it but the author's language and voice often rubbed me the wrong way. I found her at times judgmental and condescending --describing a Roma child as "grubby" or describing the religious atmosphere in Jerusalem as "perverse." When discussing the Armenian genocide, at times I found her to be weirdly defensive. And when discussing the history of Afro-Turks, the author uses the terminology "slave" instead of "enslaved," which is a small but important distinction. This book is also only a travel memoir in the sense that she is traveling through former Ottoman territories but it's much more about the socio-political histories of the various regions than her own experiences. The history she details is interesting but it's not a very personal travel memoir if that's what you're looking for.
H. B. P.
This book is a gem written by a young woman whose depth and wisdom far surpass her age. As she travels through many parts of the Ottoman Empire that disappeared in the ruins of World War I, she finds evidence of the continuing presence of the culture, language and traditions that defined a lively community for over 500 years. She also discovers that nation states that replaced the empire by separating people into ethnic enclaves have not made them more secure or happy. Many of these people look back to their ancestors with a sense of awe and wonder and dream about life under an empire that allowed so many diverse people to coexist in peace and harmony.
