Tag Archives: Turkey

Beneath the Surface of Istanbul

Books, Destinations, Guide Books, Travel, Turkey, , , , , , ,

A Guidebook Digression

Istanbul Blue Mosque
Blue Mosque, Istanbul . Photo used courtesy of Bob Ramsak, Piran Cafe

Destination: Istanbul, Turkey

Book: Istanbul: A Cultural History (NEW January 2012) by Peter Clark

With this cultural history of Istanbul, the Interlink Books publishing company racks up twenty such guides to cities around the world, from Calcutta to San Francisco.  To see the entire list of Cultural Histories, or to purchase this book or the others in the series, go to the Interlink site. The next book in the series is on Afghanistan rather than a single city. (A few more are listed as Cultural and Literary Companions.) Continue reading Beneath the Surface of Istanbul →

Interview with Mr. Q–Hugh Pope

Books, Destinations, Memoir, Middle East, News, Travel, , , , , , , , , , ,

NOTE: This is Post #600 at A Traveler’s Library. (Small cheer.)

Hugh Pope
Hugh Pope

After reading Dining with Al Qaeda, I thought that Hugh Pope was one of those writers I would like to sit with over a cup of tea for a lengthy chat. So MUCH to think about in his book. Continue reading Interview with Mr. Q–Hugh Pope →

Dining With Al-Qaeda

Books, Destinations, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Memoir, Middle East, News, Travel, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Books for the Arab World in Troubled Times

Arabian Night Destination: Middle East

Book: Dining with Al Qaeda (2010)by Hugh Pope

Every Monday for a while now, I’ve been writing about books that might shed some light on the current internal struggles of countries in the Middle East (as well as Iraq and Afghanistan as the center of international warfare) for those of us who  plan to travel there in the future.

Some of the books I have covered are directly about the politics of the situation, like In the Country of Men, and some are poetic, like The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and some are strictly travel books. I think it takes an understanding of both politics and poetry–literature and news reports–for us in the West to build an understanding of the largely Islamic countries of the Middle East and the Arab Spring. Continue reading Dining With Al-Qaeda →