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Set against the background of the collapsing Ottoman Empire, the Gallipoli campaign, and the subsequent bitter struggle between Greeks and Turks, Birds Without Wings traces the fortunes of one small community in south west Anatolia - a community in which Christian and Muslim lives and traditions have co-existed peacefully over the centuries and in which friendship, even love, can transcend religious differences.
Amongst the inhabitants of this picturesque coastal town are Iskander the Potter, fount of proverbial wisdom; Philothei, a Christian girl of legendary beauty who is courted almost from infancy by Ibrahim the Goatherd, their great love culminating in tragedy and madness; Karatavuk and Mehmetcik, childhood friends who play in the hills above the town; the two holy men of different faiths, Father Kristoforos and Abdulhamid Hodja; and the landlord Rustem Bey, who journeys to Istanbul in search of a Circassian mistress. And beyond the confines of the town there is Mustafa Kemal, the man of destiny, who by virtue of military genius and sheer bloody-mindedness reshapes the whole region in his image.
When war is declared against the Allies the young men are sent to fight. As the great wold intrudes, the twin sources of religion and nationalism lead to forced marches and massacres, hunger grips the town, and the peaceful fabric of life is destroyed.
Epic and profoundly humane, Birds Without Wings is a glorious novel by one of our finest and best-loved novelists
--inside front cover
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Previews available in: English German Dutch
Subjects
Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, History, Social conditions, Fiction, Fathers and sons, Relations, Christianity, Soldiers, City and town life, Islam, interfaith relations, World War, 1914-1918 in fiction, Fathers and sons in fiction, City and town life in fiction, Islam in fiction, Turkey in fiction, Soldiers in fiction, World War, 1914-1918 -- Turkey -- Fiction., World War, 1914-1918, Large type books, Fiction, historical, Fiction, religious, Fiction, war & military, Fathers and sons, fiction, World war, 1914-1918, fiction, Turkey, fiction, Fiction, historical, general, Romans, nouvelles, Christianisme, Vie urbaine, Pères et fils, Bevölkerung, Feindschaft, Griechisch-Türkischer Krieg, KleinstadtPeople
Karatavuk, Iskander, Philothei, Ibrahim, Musafa Kemal, Abdulhamid Hodja, Ayse, Charitos, Drosoula, Leyla, Mehmetçik, Polyxeni, Rustem BeyPlaces
Turkey, Gallipoli Peninsula, South West AnatoliaShowing 9 featured editions. View all 26 editions?
Edition | Availability |
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1
Birds Without Wings
2016?, Vintage Books
Paperback
in English
- printing (15)
0099478986 9780099478980
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2
Birds Without Wings
2009?, Vintage Books
Paperback
in English
- printing (18)
0099478986 9780099478980
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3
Traum aus Stein und Federn
2006-06, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag
paperback
in German
- [1. Auflage]
3596166489 9783596166480
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4 |
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5
Birds Without Wings
2004, Secker & Warburg
Paperback
in English
- printing (1)
0436205513 9780436205514
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6
Birds Without Wings
2004, Alfred A. Knopf
Hardcover
in English
- 1st American ed.
1400043417 9781400043415
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7
Vogels zonder vleugels
2004-10, De Arbeiderspers
paperback
in Dutch
- Tweede druk
9029504633 9789029504638
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8
Birds Without Wings
2004, A.A. Knopf Canada
Hardcover
in English
- 1st ed. (2)
0676976948 9780676976946
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9
Birds Without Wings
2004, Random House Large Print
Hardcover
in English
- 1st large print ed. (1)
0375434348 9780375434341
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Book Details
First Sentence
"The people who remained in this place have often asked themselves why it was that Ibrahim went mad."
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Work Description
Birds Without Wings is a novel by Louis de Bernières, written in 2004. Narrated by various characters, it tells the tragic love story of Philothei and Ibrahim. It also chronicles the rise of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the 'Father of the Turkish Nation'. The overarching theme of the story covers the impact of religious intolerance, over-zealous nationalism, and the war that often results. The characters are unwittingly caught up in historical tides outside of their control.
The book's title is taken from a saying by one of the characters, Iskander the Potter, "Man is a bird without wings, and a bird is a man without sorrows." The book includes a vivid and detailed description of the horrors of life in the trenches during World War I. Some of the characters are also present in the author's earlier novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin.
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