Sons of the Conquerors: The Rise of the Turkic World

A superb book, easily readable, exhibiting an unparalleled combination of prudent scholarship, and excellent journalism. Mr. Pope studied his subject matter well, traveled over half the known world to observe all the Turkic people from China to Turkey.His interviews were excellent! It took a lot of stamina on his part to travel, meet, and interview the different people.Only Mr. Pope couldve accomplished this. Keep up the good work and keep on trucking Hugh. Very very highly recommended.

Hugh Pope has travelled from one end of the Turkic world to the other to write a magnificent survey of the Pan-Turanian world he calls Sons of the Conquerors. Now Istanbul bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal,, Pope has lived and travelled in Turkey for some twenty years. He speaks Turkish, Persian, and Arabic, as well as English. As a result, he can talk to anyone from a bazaar merchant, to a police chief, to a businessman, to an imam, to a president. And he does so in this book. Anyone who has been to Istanbul knows that the vibrant country Pope describes is already a reality. What he is saying is that even if pan-Turanianism cannot succeed as a political movement, Turkic qualities of Turkic states will give them a solid foundation to follow in Turkey's footsteps to modernity-as Sons of the Conquerors. The author of Turkey Unveiled certainly knows Turkey, the Turks, and Turkish culture. Pope takes an almost anatomical interest in Turkey's people, as well as Turkic brothers and cousins scattered around the globe. He describes the realities of the Turkish Republic, its relation to the Balkan States and Azerbaijan. He visits the humming factories and gleaming offices of the new Turkish entrepreneurs, as well as the dusty agricultural towns of central Anatolia. He understands Turkic psychology, too. His second section, on Turkic politicians, is entitled "Save us, Father!" It begins with a profile of Ataturk and his secular revolution, and continues to explore Turkmenbashi, Aliyev, and Nazarbaev's political debt to the Turkic leader. Finally, he tracks down the ghose of Isa Beg, and his Uighur pan-Turanian legacy. His descriptions of Kashgar and Urumqi are priceless. From examining the Turkish mentality, Pope turns to explore Turkic geopolitics-namely Iran and Russia. The Persian and Slavic influences have been a part of Turkey's history, and the Turkic personality and society can be understood as a diamond squeezed by the pressure between Russian Orthodoxy and Persian Shi'ism. Pope travels abroad as well, to look at Turkic communities in Germany, Holland, and the USA. What he finds is interesting, especially in the different ways expatriate Turkish immigrants adapt to their different host societies. Most intriguing is his claim that Virginia's Melengueon Indian tribe were originally Turkish galley slaves washed ashore on the American coast. Even if you don't buy that theory, his evidence that Native American Indian tribes had Turkish origins is persuasive. There's just so much that it is impossible to summarize. He describes the Caspian oil boom, the Kazakh oil boom, and the re-invention of the Turkish police force as the nation attempts to enter the EU-from "Midnight Express" to "Midnight Espresso." When it comes to Uzbekistan, Pope is sympathetic to Islam Karimov. Pope's basic argument seems to be that Karimov, although of Tajik (Persian) ancestry, is closely following Ataturk's path of independence, authoritarianism, secularism, and se

Turkey has long been viewed with tainted expectations and age-old engrained prejudices in Europe mainly which were, unfortunately, reverberated throughout the rest of the world. But now that that is changing dramatically, a new world is starting to emerge. The Turkic world is a rich and diverse land, oozing with culture, history, intrigue and, on a more current perspective, vast economic potential primerily as it straddles the most pivotal regions in terms of future energy resources. This world has a long way to come, it is still in it's youth, but with an increasing developed republic of Turkey heading the booming set of states, the 21st century could well herald the Age of the Turks. Hugh Pope's book, The Sons of the Conquerors, ignites the already simmering flame that is the rise of the Turkic World. For me it was not only educational and vastly intriguing, interesting and on occasion humerous, but also helped me, as a Turk, to further understand my kinsmen that are spread out so far and wide. All in all this is a MUST for anyone interested in the concerned topics and of course, in my opinion, all Turks. The Skill and Patience that are no doubt needed to create such an utter masterpiece certainly deserve the price on the back cover...

There are no other books that cover this region between the Mid-East, Russia, and China, which is amazing to me considering the importance of the area. This book is part travelogue, part history, and Pope does a wonderful job of pulling the modern into perspective with the historical. Not only is it smart and insightful, but it's also very readable and hard to put down. This book is a must for anyone with an interest in the area of which so many are sadly ignorant.

Turkey is the keystone between the Middle East of Syria, Iran and Iraq, and on the other side is Greece and the European Union. The broader Turkic World, those countries or regions where Turkish is the predominant language, lies to the northeast of Turkey and make up the region that lies between China and Russia. In this book, Mr. Pope who heads the Istanbul bureau for the Wall Street Journal, gives a report of his travels throughout this part of the world. He reports on the transition in the countries that were previously part of the Soviet Union. He reports on the religious aspects of a country viewed with suspicion by the Christian West because of their Muslim religion, and shunned by their co-religionists in the Islamic world for its alliance with the Christian West. This book is more of a chronicle of Mr. Pope's travels and experiences through this world than a true history. The years since the collapse of the Soviet Union have been years of drastic change in this region. Countries like Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and others are visited and some of their story told. This is a region previously hidden in the monolithic Soviet Union. Now it is opening up to be a part of the rest of the world but independently. This book brings this region to light in a light and easily understood manner.