Ataturk: The Rebirth of a Nation by Patrick Kinross (1964).
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, considered “Father of the Turks,” rose to power as a devoted and determined military officer. Raised as a plebian by a widowed mother, it was when Kemal was stationed in Sofia (Bulgaria) that he was first exposed to Western civilization. Heavy on battle and war tactics, the text documents Kemal’s rise in the ranks of the military through WWI, where he fought bravely – the only Turkish officer who went undefeated -- and strategized accurately. Seizing upon a nationalist spirit that swept Turkey after WWI, Kemal proved himself as a politician and statesman in the Anatolia heartland by insisting upon the rights of his nation according to the will of its people so that Turkey became the “first Oriental country to make a stand against Western Imperialism.” Within five years of rising to power, Kemal abolishes both the sultanate and caliphate to establish the New Turkish Republic as a secular state where the Islamic relics – the face veil and fez -- are outlawed and women are emancipated. A British journalist and intelligence officer, Kinross tackles this big, dense biography with a very high regard for his subject (8/10).
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
RollnSmoke Reviews: THE LAST CHILD by John Hart
THE LAST CHILD by John Hart (St. Martin’s, 2009)
This New York Times Bestseller is a gripping summer read set in North Carolina and loaded with drugs, insanity, creepy pedophiles, rotten cops and mysterious, grisly murders that need untangling. The very first line of the who-done-it reveals the nature of the young protagonist: “Johnny learned early that childhood was illusion,” who exists to comfort his damaged and addicted mother. Through the course of the novel, Johnny works to unearth the truth behind the abduction of his twin sister, and he struggles with the disappearance of his father. Meanwhile, the lead detective on the case, Clyde Hunt, struggles to keep his work professional and not personal while pinning down unlikely heroes and astonishing villains who scramble in sync towards the final crescendo (8/10).
This New York Times Bestseller is a gripping summer read set in North Carolina and loaded with drugs, insanity, creepy pedophiles, rotten cops and mysterious, grisly murders that need untangling. The very first line of the who-done-it reveals the nature of the young protagonist: “Johnny learned early that childhood was illusion,” who exists to comfort his damaged and addicted mother. Through the course of the novel, Johnny works to unearth the truth behind the abduction of his twin sister, and he struggles with the disappearance of his father. Meanwhile, the lead detective on the case, Clyde Hunt, struggles to keep his work professional and not personal while pinning down unlikely heroes and astonishing villains who scramble in sync towards the final crescendo (8/10).