Winner of a 2014 Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award and shortlisted for the 2014 Longman–History Today Book Prize, Mustafa Kemal—later and better known as Atatürk—is undoubtedly the towering figure of modern Turkish history. But what was his path to power? And how did his early career as a soldier in the Ottoman army influence his later decisions as president?
The Young Atatürk explores the less documented period of Kemal’s life—from the War of Independence to the founding of the Republic—and shows that only by understanding Kemal’s military career can one fully grasp how he evolved into one of the most extraordinary statesmen of the twentieth century.
Drawing on Kemal’s military writings, orders, political decisions, speeches, proclamations, and private correspondence, this book offers a rounded and nuanced portrait of the making of a major statesman.