I love to read as much (or more) as I like to plan for my trips. I have found that reading about a destination enriches the experience tremendously. Our next trip will be to Greece and/or Turkey and I'm wondering if anyone has book recommendations. Fiction, Historical Fiction, Non-fiction...everything is welcome!

Marigross, I am sure that you will get many replies. Most trips with Smithsonian Journeys include extensive reading suggestions. For starters:


GREECE
http://www.longitudebooks.com/find/d.../r/SI/mcms.htm

TURKEY

http://www.longitudebooks.com/find/d.../r/SI/mcms.htm

Greece - "Cambridge Press Illustrated History of Ancient Greece". Fascinating book which explains in interesting detail the complexities of Ancient Greece including the lives of the average citizen. Greatly increased our understanding and appreciation of not just the ancient sites but modern Greece as well.

Before going to Istanbul my wife and I read A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich, The Ottoman Empire by Lord Kinross, and The Art of the Byzantine Empire by
Andre´Grabar.

Bird Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres

I second Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres, a beautifully written book about Turkey.

Also "Istanbul" and "My Name is Red" by Orhan Pamuk. There is a good bit of the history in guide books on Turkey, including Fodors.

The Pillars of Hercules, by Paul Theroux. Not just Greece and Turkey, but a masterful work on the entire Mediterranean.

And Dinner with Persephone.

marigross, PM me with an e-mail address and I can send you my complete booklist, that I provide to my travel companions ... I've done 8 Greece trips since 1999, most of them taking along newcomers to Greece, so I've developed a list of what I like best -- but I don't want to keyboard the whole thing here.

For Turkey, check books by:

John Freely, for antique sites
Maureen Freely, Fiction (Jonh's daughter and nobelist Orhan Pamuk's translator)
Barbara Nadel, Mystery
Yasar Kemal, fiction, rural life and customs
Nazim kemal, poetry
Elif Safak, fiction
Ayse Kulin, biographical/historical fiction
Orhan Veli, poetry
Talat Halman, essays, translations

the documentary DVD by Fatih Akin, "Crossing the Bridge"

Thanks so much to all!

Sorry about typo(?) error

Poet's name should read: "Nazim Hikmet"

Thomas Cahill, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter

Sofka Zinovieff, Euridice Street: A Place in Athens

Cathy Gere, The Tomb of Agamemnon (if you are going to Mycenae)

And not a book recommendation, although it might be almost as long, you might be interested in my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

Another vote for "Birds Without Wings" - I loved this book and was so glad I read it before our Turkey trip a few years ago.

Tom Brosnahan's Turkey Travel Planner has a good list on Turkey or PM me for further the list I created.

Happy Travelling,

Murat

NIGHT OF RAIN AND STARS by Maeve Binchy

Good suggestions! May I add The Pericles Salon (Avlaki) and The Pericles Connection (Corby) -- modern & ancient Greece respectively

Nights of Rain and Stars - Maeve Binchy