Places in Turkey: A Pocket Grand Tour

Turkey for the tourist is a daunting, yet infinitely rewarding, proposition. The guide books cover everything most efficiently, but present a different problem: how to choose between the places? Francis Russell has been traveling in Turkey for more than 20 years, and with the 83 recommendations here he provides a fascinating and comprehensive itinerary. More interested in extant buildings than excavations, Russell favors unexcavated sites over those where 'the hand of the archaeologist is officiously evident' — from the lost classical world of the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine sites and the Armenian and Georgian churches which are offshoots of the same growth, to the great monuments of the Seljuk and Ottoman civilizations. From the much visited southern coast to the heartlands of Anatolia, Russell's deep understanding of the history and culture of the region, and his keen eye for detail make him the most delightfully erudite of traveling companions.