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The Endless Country

A Personal Journey Through Turkey's First Hundred Years

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The Endless Country

By: Sami Kent
Narrated by: Ojan Genc, Sami Kent
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About this listen

This audio edition includes an Epilogue read by the author, Sami Kent.

'Captivating. Kent effortlessly weaves travels that are close to his heart into a bigger story of Turkey’s past and present' – Mishal Husain
'A rich, spellbinding book: dense with people, stories, history, colour, lived experience. [Sami Kent] is a beguiling and charming guide through the complexities of Turkey. The book is alive on every page' – Neel Mukherjee, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Lives of Others


The Endless Country takes a journey through Turkey’s past – the nation the author’s father left decades ago and he returns to as a young man.

It is not about Erdogan or Atatürk, the two towering Presidents who have book-ended that history, and at times have appeared impossible to escape. Instead Sami Kent’s book goes deep beyond them, revealing a history as rich, layered and absurd as his family’s favourite dessert, künefe: a shredded wheat pastry with a core of melted cheese, a topping of pistachios, and a drowning of syrup.

From tiny weightlifters to the world’s biggest prison, from a failed socialist commune to a wildly successful orchid ice cream, the book is a tribute to the sheer bewildering diversity of Turkey’s past: its people, their ideas and their struggles.

Cultural & Regional Middle East Turkey Imperialism Iran War

Critic reviews

The Endless Country is a resoundingly successful attempt to tell Turkey’s history – the first 100 years since the founding of the republic – through Kent’s own story of coming back to the land of his father. But more than that: by talking to people and visiting places involved with each decade of that century, Kent brings the past alive
This is surely how history should be told – human, fun, alive
Captivating. Kent effortlessly weaves travels that are close to his heart into a bigger story of Turkey’s past and present (Mishal Husain)
Sami Kent's journey in search of his father's country yields a rich, spellbinding book: dense with people, stories, history, colour, lived experience. He is a beguiling and charming guide through the complexities of Turkey. The book is alive on every page. (Neel Mukherjee, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Lives of Others)
A must-read for anyone who wants to understand Turkey . . . from a touching family biography to a wonderful travelogue to an excellent treatise of Turkey’s rich and complicated political history (Soner Çagaptay, author of Erdogan's Empire )
Turkey's complicated first century comes to life through Sami Kent's judiciously chosen stories, which he tells with compassion and depth alongside his search for the meaning of his own heritage . . . It is hard to find a more complete insight into a country that few writers really know, and even fewer can explain. (Hannah Lucinda Smith, author of Erdogan Rising)
[Kent] leverages his journalistic acumen to offer a vivid and nuanced portrait of the nation . . .
An insightful, moving and beautifully crafted portrait of a nation
All stars
Most relevant
A very interesting eclectic gathering of extremely informative events throughout history. Some I knew a little about and some I knew nothing at all about. Very interesting indeed! A great way to 'do history' without actually doing history! Brought to you as stories.

Much to learn

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