The Turks in World History

Findley, in the introduction to _The Turks in World History_ writes, "This book is intended for the nonspecialists who want to know more about this important part of the history of humanity." This is quite a broad goal; Findley hits the mark, dead center. His masterful historical narrative pulls together geographically and socially disparate parts of world history - East Asia, India, the Middle East and Eastern Europe with the common thread of the Turks. His history has certainly given me pause to reconsider the way in which "world civilization" is interrealted. The book begins with the distant (and not well documented) history of the nomads of present-day Mongolia and Siberia, the forefathers of both the Mongols, the Finns, the Hungarians, Turkomans, Uzbeks and the Turks: the Hsung-nu. Well known to the Ch'in and Han dynasty, these were the peoples against whom the Great Wall of China was constructed. From these origins, the gradual migration of Turkish-speaking peoples is chronicled through a variety of westward migrating groups from Uighurs, to the Huns, to the Golden Horde of Chingiss Khan to the Ottomans and the residents of present-day Turkey. As the history of this people are told, the common cultural ties of the Turks are pointed out - the forest that I had missed for the trees of differences between groups. The dialectic between micro-political forces (born of the de-centralized nature of steppe life) macro-political forces (as the Turks in their various groups became slaves, soldiers, and eventually conquorers) particularly impressed me: I had never seen the cultural, artistic and sociological similarities between Mongol, Mameluk, Seljuk, Ottoman and Moughal before. Similarly I had never made the broader connection between "cossack" (the free-ranging horsemen of Ukraine) with "Kazakh", the Turkish horsemen of Central Asia; or the connection between the Uzbeks (of Central Asia) with the decendents of Chingiss (Oezbek). These are only two of the many threads that Findely uses to weave together his world history. Truly the Turks, perhaps more than any other ethno-lingusitic group, have pulled together far-flung parts of the world through commerce and conquest. The last third of the book in which European imperialism and the rise of modern states is discussed was of less interest to me, but was no less profound. History can be dry, even downright boring if not well presented. Findely's writing is fluid and keeps the reader's attention. The connections between peoples, civilizations and cultures are regularly referred back to, allowing the reader to easily follow the larger points he wants to make. That the Turks had such a major role and place in world history is something I had not previously considered; before reading _The Turks in World History_, I understood them only in the narrow construct of the Ottoman and Mughal Empires. I now seriously reconsider my view as a result of this book. For students of history (either

It is a good and brief source of information, sometimes, quite detailed about the history of turkic-speaking people from the ancient to modern time. The author managed to put in 230 pages of the text the mainstream of the development of turkic tribes, peoples and states. The book is objective and well reference-based.

This is a truly remarkable book. Findley offers a well-written introduction to the entire history of Turks and Turkic peoples to the non-specialist reader in this very interesting work. The book is composed of an introduction, five main parts and a conclusion. It takes the history of Turks from the very beginning (the appearance of Xiongnu in the Central Asian steppes) and brings it up to the recent electoral victory of AKP (Justice and Development Party) in Turkey. I found the book especially strong on its chapters about Turks' conversion to Islam and after. On top of all the remarkable scholarly qualities of the book, Findley is a very good writer and he carefully explains every point, which may be difficult or unknown to the lay reader. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

This is a masterful work that can be savoured by the professional historian and educated layperson alike. It questions other analysises based on the clash of civilizations or which take for granted that something went wrong, reminding us that failing to adapt to global modernity, or lashing out violently against its manifestations, is not peculiar to any civilization. To put it in a nutshell, Findley looks for continuities and distinctive designs in the history of the Turkic peoples, considering the pre-islamic Turks and their precursors, the entry of the Turks (and the Monguls) into the Islamic world, the great age of indigenous Asian empire building; and finally the modern period. All that in 237 pages divided in the following chapters: One: The pre-islamic Turks and their Precursors; Two: Islam and Empire from the Seljuks through the Mongols; Three: Islamic Empires from Temür to the "Gunpowder Era"; Four: The Turks in the Modern world: Reform and Imperialism; Five: The Turks and Modernity: Republican and Communist; Conclusion: The Turkic Caravan in Retrospect. Besides, the book is not a difficult reading (content: 5 starts; pleasure of reading: 4 to 3). Other books I would recommend to read are the following: Donald Quataert, "The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922", and Robert Mantran (ed), "Histoire de l'Empire ottoman".