A Fez of the Heart; Travels Around Turkey in Search of a Hat (Picador, 1995).
Shortlisted for the Daily Telegraph/Thomas Cook Travel Book Award (1996).
Click here to read an extract. Click here for this book's Amazon page. Click here for the US edition's Amazon page.
Jeremy Seal set out across Turkey, in the extremes of winter, to trace the astonishing history of a cone-shaped hat. He soon saw the fez as the key by which Turkey, beset by contradictions, might be understood. An engaging and agile mix of history and travel, politics and reportage, A Fez of the Heart is a deeply instructive piece of contemporary social history as well as a highly entertaining insight into the bizarre struggle for the soul of contemporary Turkey.
‘Almost all you could ever wish to know about modern Turkey, modern Turks and their one-time headgear. Extremely well written and very funny.’ – Eric Newby
‘He weaves into the tale such lively, frank and touching descriptions of country life that it ranks as the best travel book on Turkey this decade.’
- Cornucopia Magazine
‘Original and beautifully observed… like Chatwin with jokes.’ - Independent
‘A terrific travel book, insightful, beautifully written, funny only when it needs to be, and getting great mileage out of its central idea.’ - Guardian
'Entertaining, witty and original, Jeremy Seal’s is an extraordinarily informative and sympathetic account of modern Turkey’s dilemmas – illuminated by the author’s compendious knowledge of Turkish head-gear. Superbly written and fascinating.’ - Paul Micou
‘An intelligent, subtle and original book that seamlessly combines travel writing with political analysis… For anyone wondering where Turkey itself is going, this book might hold the answer.’ - Sunday Telegraph
Jeremy Seal set out across Turkey, in the extremes of winter, to trace the astonishing history of a cone-shaped hat. He soon saw the fez as the key by which Turkey, beset by contradictions, might be understood. An engaging and agile mix of history and travel, politics and reportage, A Fez of the Heart is a deeply instructive piece of contemporary social history as well as a highly entertaining insight into the bizarre struggle for the soul of contemporary Turkey.
‘Almost all you could ever wish to know about modern Turkey, modern Turks and their one-time headgear. Extremely well written and very funny.’ – Eric Newby
‘He weaves into the tale such lively, frank and touching descriptions of country life that it ranks as the best travel book on Turkey this decade.’
- Cornucopia Magazine
‘Original and beautifully observed… like Chatwin with jokes.’ - Independent
‘A terrific travel book, insightful, beautifully written, funny only when it needs to be, and getting great mileage out of its central idea.’ - Guardian
'Entertaining, witty and original, Jeremy Seal’s is an extraordinarily informative and sympathetic account of modern Turkey’s dilemmas – illuminated by the author’s compendious knowledge of Turkish head-gear. Superbly written and fascinating.’ - Paul Micou
‘An intelligent, subtle and original book that seamlessly combines travel writing with political analysis… For anyone wondering where Turkey itself is going, this book might hold the answer.’ - Sunday Telegraph