Turkey Rediscovered

ʻKlaus Reichert is a traveller full of ideas and erudition … wise enough to be humbled by the intellect and symbolism of classical Ottoman architecture or curious enough to loose himself in the spontaneous rhythms of traditional Turkish flat weaves.’ 
Andrew Finkel, author of Turkey: What Everyone Needs to Know

Turkey Rediscovered is the lyrical and inquisitive record of a journey through Anatolia, Istanbul and along the Aegean coast. Klaus Reichert explores the strip of land where Adam and Eve are said to have settled after their expulsion from Eden and where Moses struck water from a stone. In the footsteps of the brilliant architect Mimar Sinan he talks to an old stonemason and a young teacher, wondering at the mysteries of Sinan’s majestic mosques. Visiting one of the last remaining colonies of a rare breed of ibis, Reichart walks the wide expanses surrounding the archaeological sites of western Turkey. Finally, drawing parallels between kilim weaving, minimal music, and modernity as a whole, under Reichart’s gaze what is seen, questioned and learned is compacted like a warp and weft into colourful and provoking images. This a book that uncovers hidden depths to a land we thought we knew, but shows we have much still to learn.

KLAUS REICHERT is a literary critic, author, translator and publisher. He taught English and American Literature at the University of Frankfurt and was president of the German Academy for Language and Literature. He has written books on and translated works by James Joyce, Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll and Virginia Woolf.