The Endless Country

'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. [Sami Kent] is a beguiling and charming guide through the complexities of Turkey. 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 Atatuerk, 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, kuenefe: 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.