The Western Shores of Turkey: Discovering the Aegean and Mediterranean Coasts

by John Freely

Resting on two continents, Turkey reflects and absorbs the cultures of both East and West and nowhere is this more evident than along its Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. This is a land immersed in history and it is where Anthony met Cleopatra, where Herodotus, the *father* of history, was born and where legendary battles were fought--from Alexander the Great to Gallipoli. The Western Shores of Turkey is the distillation of a succession of journeys that John Freely made along this coast--an odyssey spanning a quarter of a century. By bus, car and caique , on foot and post boat, from Istanbul to Antakya (Antioch) on the Syrian border, he discovered the charm of modern Turkey and the wonders of its past. The result is both an informative guide and a remarkable travelogue for all who follow in his footsteps.

432 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 1988

About the author

John Freely was born in 1926 in Brooklyn, New York to Irish immigrant parents, and spent half of his early childhood in Ireland. He dropped out of high school when he was 17 to join the U. S. Navy, serving for two years, including combat duty with a commando unit in the Pacific, India, Burma and China during the last year of World War II. After the war, he went to college on the G. I. Bill and eventually received a Ph.D. in physics from New York University, followed by a year of post-doctoral study at Oxford in the history of science. He worked as a research physicist for nine years, including five years at Princeton University. In 1960 he went to İstanbul to teach physics at the Robert College, now the Boğaziçi University, and taught there until 1976. He then went on to teach and write in Athens (1976-79), Boston (1979-87), London (1987-88), İstanbul (1988-91) and Venice (1991-93). In 1993 he returned to Boğaziçi University, where he taught a course on the history of science. His first book, co-authored by the late Hilary Sumner-Boyd, was Strolling Through İstanbul (1972). Since then he has published more than forty books.

Reviews

[Ece Demirkol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bir sonraki antik kent gezimde tiyatroda en ust siraya oturup beyaz sarabimi John ve Dolores serefine kaldiracagim. Cok keyifli bir seruvendi.

[Zachary Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fine addition to Freely's volumes of travel writing about Turkey. A great aid when planning a visit to the region and an evocative device of travelling in the mind's eye for those of us unable to get away.

[Pinar G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gezmeye başladığımız zaman başucu kitabımız olacak, antik kent seven, kahverengi yol panoları aşıkları için harika bir kitap.

[Artun Bötke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Türkiye’nin Ege ve Akdeniz kıyılarını gezenlerin mutlaka okuması gereken bir başucu kitabı. Anlatımı çok akıcı, tarih ve coğrafya detaylarıyla gayet bilgilendirici. 80’li yıllarda yazılmasına rağmen hâlâ güncel kalmış üstelik.

[Lynette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will read this again before my next trip to Turkey. A LOT of detail and not very engaging. But extremely well researched and full of fantastic detail.