Turkey

“In this book Freya Stark displays that incomparable gift of hers: the ability to travel in time as well as in space.
Taking present-day Istanbul as the starting-point of her historical journey, she leads us back into the past. She lets the earliest known community in the area tell its story, and then traces the successive imprints left on Turkey by the Greeks, the Romans, the early Christians, the Seljuks and Crusaders, and the Ottomans. It is this breaking through of the past into the present that constitutes the peculiar richness of modern Turkey, to which in the final section we return.
This is a highly personal book, for Miss Stark not only shows us her favourite places but shares with us her thoughts and her deep knowledge and love of the country.

The text is accompanied by superb illustrations, the work of the well-known Italian photographer Fulvio Roiter.
Mr Roiter follows each stage of Miss Stark’s journey, and brings alive with his camera what she has brought alive with her pen. He shows us archaeological sites, Greek and Roman remains, the wonderful mosques of the Seljuks and Ottomans, and finally the way that the people live, even in the most remote parts of the country. His photographs are supplemented with detailed descriptive notes, which put each plate in its historical perspective.”