'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 . . . 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. 'This is surely how history should be told - human fun alive' - The Telegraph
