To Save an Empire

Allan R Gall

ISBN 10: 0692087559 / ISBN 13: 9780692087558

Published by Allan R. Gall, 2018

About this Item

Seller Inventory # LU-9780692087558

Bibliographic Details

• Title: To Save an Empire
• Publisher: Allan R. Gall
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0692087559
• ISBN 13: 9780692087558
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.24W x 2.41H x 22.86D centimeters 15.24 centimeters width by 2.41 centimeters height by 22.86 centimeters depth
• Weight: 621 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In 1877, when Russia attacks the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Abdülhamit II must fight a devastating war to preserve his ethnically diverse territories that stretch across three continents. At home, he feels threatened from within by Mithat Pasha, a respected reformer, who has popular support for a constitution that would curb the sultan's authority and give the people a voice in their government. Aware of these challenges, Abdülhamit's Belgian wife, Flora Cordier, hopes to remain his confidante and helpmate as he decides how to govern: the iron-fisted rule of his ancestors, the democracy proposed by Mithat, or the diplomacy that exposes his weakened military power. No matter his choice, he is responsible for the suffering of his people.
To Save an Empire explores the impact of religious and ethnic conflict in the Ottoman Empire of the late 19th century on the lives of ordinary people--Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Refugees flee atrocities that incite revenge, but also arouse charity and love. A story of love found and lost, of war and its consequences. Today's Balkans and Middle East emerge from the era's political forces of terrorism, imperialism, nationalism, and religion. It is a modern story.
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"[Gall]...artfully brings to life the political intrigues of an empire sliding into irrelevance. The Ottoman Empire emerges as a kind of protagonist all its own, eager to become strengthened by its embrace of modernity and the West, but also anxious about surrendering its cultural and religious identity. ... A magnificently researched tale of a troubled empire that's also dramatically captivating." -- Kirkus reviews
"Fiction as only history can tell it, all the more moving because we know it is not fiction. ...a compelling story." -- Bulent Atalay, physicist and author of Math and the Mona Lisa and Leonardo's Universe

About the Author

Allan R. Gall lived in Turkey for eight years as a Peace Corps English teacher, as a grants administrator for the Ford Foundation, and as a Fulbright-Hays research fellow. Allan’s Ph.D. dissertation for the University of Michigan analyzed the writings of Turkey’s most prolific and widely read author, Aziz Nesin. To Save an Empire grew out of his experience in Turkey, where Turks still referenced the Crusades as defining the attitude and politics of Western Christian countries toward Muslim ones.

Allan authored Of Mouse and Magic (Two Harbors Press, 2011), a novel for young readers. “This book is not only great for children but for parents and grandparents also. Recommended for your child’s home library,” misslynnsbooks-n-more.blogspot.com. Listed among the 2011 Top Books Designed for Our Youth on thebestbookclub.com.

Allan had his first eight years of education in a one-room schoolhouse in rural South Dakota. He learned to write from an inspired high school English teacher and was awed by Shakespeare at Yankton College, where he won the poetry prize in a John Berryman seminar. He taught high school English and lived in The Yemen Arab Republic for three years as the Peace Corps Country Director. He dabbles in carpentry and yard work, plays tennis, and spends time with his youngest grandson. He enjoys Doc Martin, the theatre, an occasional movie, Turkish food, and performances by the National Symphony Orchestra.