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The Turkish Embasy Letters Kindle Edition

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 141 ratings

In 1716, Mary Wortley Montagu travelled across Europe to take up residence in Istanbul as the wife of the British ambassador. For two years she lovingly observed the Ottoman society around her with an astonishing lack of prejudice. Her wide-ranging letters – about the life of Turkish women behind the veil, Arabic poetry, contemporary medical practices such as inoculation – remain as fresh as the day they were penned. A self-educated intellectual, a free spirit, a radical and a feminist as well as an aristocrat, she was one of the first modern travel writers, studying and recording the culture around her on its own terms and through its own language.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Her letters have an immediacy and vivacity that remains as fresh as the mosaics on the ancient monuments she saw and the eastern gardens that gave her such delight―Anita Desai

One of the best narrative travel books ever written by an Englishwoman―Dervla Murphy

A
timely and compelling reminder of the reasons why we should pay attention to the writing of this remarkable woman. They have produced what will no doubt be the definitive teaching edition for years to come―Suvir Paul, University of Pennsylvania

What a treat to see this indispensable and versatile text again available . . . Her idiosyncratic, open-minded, proto-feminist responses to Islamic civilisation are more fascinating today than ever, and the context that the editors supply for them is simply the best yet―
Isobel Grundy, University of Alberta

Her letters have an immediacy and vivacity that remains as fresh as the mosiacs on the ancient monuments she saw and the eastern gardens that gave her such delight.―
Anita Desai

From the Publisher

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) was described by a contemporary as "one of the most extraordinary shining characters in the world." Her letters, collected here, tell of her travels through Europe to Turkey in 1716, where her husband had been appointed Ambassador. Her liveliness makes them delightfully readable, and her singular intelligence provides us with insights that were exceptional for their time. Her ability to study another culture according to its own values, and to see herself through the eyes of others, makes Lady Mary one of the most fascinating and accomplished of early travel writers.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B093V2FF7T
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Eland Publishing (June 30, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 30, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1767 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 287 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 141 ratings

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Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
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4.4 out of 5 stars
141 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2019
    Delivery great, book as described
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2013
    Smooth transaction, on-time delivery, nice book. I recommend this book highly to everyone who would like to learn about Istanbul, Turks, Turkish culture and Ottoman Empire and its culture.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2010
    It's a mind blowing book. How beautiful is to get to know the life style of Ottoman Turks in Istanbul via the famous letters of an English woman...
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2013
    A fantastic read. Lady Mary's letters illustrate the middle-east of the past through the lens of the west and highlights the differences between the cultures.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2013
    Lady M.W.M. was a great letter writer, and though it's not fashionable to say so, I much prefer her to Mme de Sevigne, whose letters are in essence one long hysterical cry to her daughter, You never write, you never call. Per contra, Lady MWM is common-sensical, less needlessly poetic, but with the sharp, discerning eye of a spy. That is, she is a real writer. I only wish I could read her letters that were burnt, thrown away, locked up, and otherwise held away from us, because they were too much of a muchness. Were they explicit? Or were they merely telling 300 y/old secrets? No one knows, and those who do, aren't telling. But even the letters that survived are a dilly. You feel you are almost there. Good stuff, this.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2014
    Thank you for your prompt service and well represented product.
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2014
    What a very clever and interesting book - that is, for those who are interested in early eighteenth century English customs and the Ottoman empire. Lady Mary was an English aristocrat who travelled to Constantinople in 1716 with her husband, Edward, who had been appointed Ambassador to the Turkish court in order to try to broker a peace deal between it and the Viennese court of the Habsburgs. He failed in this mission but, as a result of it, later generations of readers were treated to his wife’s observations of a culture that was so foreign to her own. In her letters to her friends and family back home, she enlightened them on subjects such as the treatment of Jews in the Turkish empire (they were a very powerful element in it); the brutal attitude shown by the Turkish army to the common people, who were often left destitute after soldiers had been through their lands; the position of women in Turkish society; and the wonders of Turkish architecture, so utterly different from that in her own country. She chose her topics according to whom she was writing to. When communicating with the poet, Alexander Pope, she regaled him with lengthy quotes from Arabian poetry. When writing to a clergyman, she explained to him the religious beliefs and rituals practiced in Turkey. And, when writing to her female friends, she took great pains to describe the clothes and hair styles of the local women. In fact, one of the subjects she dwells on the most in the Letters is the women she met. She gives lengthy descriptions of the public baths that women used as meeting places, of her visits to various harems, and her attendance at an all-women pre-marriage ceremony conducted in a public bath. She describes her meetings with the wives of sultans and other great Turkish leaders, and is positively glowing with praise for their great beauty and poise. The male readers’ imaginations will be set alight by her narratives! What makes the book so interesting, though, is that Lady Mary also gives her thoughtful opinions on what it is she is observing, whether it is the wearing of the veil, or her view of the practice of war, regularly indulged in by the Turks. In places, the lengthy sentences indulged in by eighteenth century writers can seem grossly overstated to our modern eye, but that is the only jarring note in what was, after all, penned three hundred years ago.
    It is obvious, reading the book, that Lady Mary was, at heart, an ardent romanticist. It is no wonder, then, that some years after her return to stuffy old England, she left again and spent most of the rest of her life in Italy and France. Just under two years spent under the Turkish sun had a profound effect on her. I would venture to say she was never the same woman again, and it’s a great pleasure to read about the influences which shaped that process.
    10 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • carla
    5.0 out of 5 stars Consigliato
    Reviewed in Italy on January 26, 2024
    Avevo già letto questo libro per un saggio accademico anni fa, adesso l’ho riacquistato per effettuarci un lavoro di tesi. L’introduzione, che tratta dell’intera vita dell’autrice, è molto dettagliata e ben scritta; le lettere scritte da Lady Montagu sono di facile comprensione seppur scritte nel 1700; le note esplicative a fine libro sono estremamente utili per capire le citazioni e/od omissioni dell’autrice.
    É un testo scorrevole e se vi piace il genere del travel book ve lo consiglio.
  • Seher
    1.0 out of 5 stars Damaged book
    Reviewed in Germany on November 20, 2021
    Thanks for sending me a damaged one ...
  • Judith
    5.0 out of 5 stars livré
    Reviewed in France on December 8, 2020
    Livré aujourd'hui - donc je suis très contente! Comme décrit - livraison rapide . . .quand meme!
  • BAZZ
    5.0 out of 5 stars WOMEN SHOULD READ THIS- AND MEN TOO
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2020
    A collection of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's collection of letters to various friends as she travels through Europe to Turkey in 1716 to join her husband a newly appointed Ambassador. Women, by and large were freer and more liberated at that period in time, particularly in Austria and Turkey. It is an eye opener. Her letters are vivid and descriptive and comes from the pen of a liberated woman addressed to largely liberated educated lady friends.
  • socrates
    5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable talent
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2010
    The great shame about MWM,s letters is that so many were destroyed by her family a trully great letter writer and remarkable talent her humanity just shines through the World needs more like her. Although there are a few books that cover MWM the best way to learn about her is through her own writing dont pass this one by!

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