Offering a historical and cultural analysis of the late Ottoman period and Republican Turkey, this book collects Serif Mardin's seminal essays written throughout the span of his prolific career. These essays deal with the historical background, political travails, and socioeconomic metamorphosis of Turkey during a century of modernization.

Extensively documented and updated since its first publication in 1962, this volume provides a detailed study of the men and events that have shaped Turkey's modern political ideologies.

Cultural Transitions in the Middle East deals with the interlacing of themes constitutive of traditional cultures and world-views in the Middle East with concepts and outlooks that have originated in the modern Western World. A number of Muslim thinkers who are indigenous products of the Middle East cultural setting have now begun to use some of the forms of modern Western literature and social thought. Conversely, some intellectuals trained in modern secular schools have attempted to reevaluate their Islamic heritage. The papers cover aspects of this subtle interpenetration which has...