My Books
An admission: Tell me I'm not alone in scanning the shelves that serve as the backdrops to subject portraits in newspapers and magazines in the hope of seeing one of my books there, especially if the shelves belong to somebody I happen to admire. It's yet to occur, so I've consoled myself by lumping all my books in their various editions on my own shelf and posting the image as this page's header.
My books tend to get shelved - if ever they do - as travelogues. But they are errant ones; they veer off into history and natural history, memoir, biography, even fictional narrative and any number of other obscure genres. Subjects come along which I happen to find compelling. So I write about them. It’s a process which broadly entails going to places and ransacking libraries: the result tends to combine low scholarship and high adventure in books I mean to be, above all, readable.
My books tend to get shelved - if ever they do - as travelogues. But they are errant ones; they veer off into history and natural history, memoir, biography, even fictional narrative and any number of other obscure genres. Subjects come along which I happen to find compelling. So I write about them. It’s a process which broadly entails going to places and ransacking libraries: the result tends to combine low scholarship and high adventure in books I mean to be, above all, readable.
A Fez of the Heart: Travels Around Turkey In Search of a Hat
A Fez of the Heart (Picador, 1995) explored, among a range of issues, why this item of headgear should have been banned in Turkey since 1925. William Dalrymple called it ‘arguably the best portrait of contemporary Turkey currently available in English. It is also extremely funny.’ Click on the thumbnail for more.
The Snakebite Survivors' Club: Travels Among Serpents
My second book, published by Picador in 1999, explored a personal compulsive fascination for deadly snakes. I was irresistibly drawn to the mavericks – snake charmers, witch doctors, low-church charismatics – who voluntarily entwine the likes of cobras, black mambas and rattlesnakes into their daily routines. The Daily Mail called it ‘a compelling little treasure… a thrilling read’. Click on the thumbnail for more.
The Wreck at Sharpnose Point: A Victorian Mystery/Treachery at Sharpnose Point (US)
The Wreck at Sharpnose Point (Picador, 2002) resurrects the history of a merchant ship whose figurehead still bears witness to the crew lost on the occasion of her wreck in 1842. This memorial, which I came across in the graveyard at Morwenstow, Cornwall, seemed like an invitation into a wild, resonant world. Click on the thumbnail for more.
Santa: A Life/Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus (US)
Santa (Picador, 2005) was inspired by the discovery I made in the course of my travels: St Nicholas came from a little Turkish port called Demre. This mattered because my daughters were of an age to be in thrall to the man that St Nicholas had long since become. I set out to trace the saint’s epic posthumous odyssey, through some 1700 years, which brought me, finally, to Christmas Eve. Click on the thumbnail for more.
Meander: East to West Along a Turkish River (Chatto, 2021)
My latest book recounts a journey by foldable canoe down the classical, history-rich river which gave its name to digression and indirection. It's a journey downstream through Turkey's epic history, but it's also a testament to the people I met along the way. I hope readers will find its intimate, epic and insightful. I think it's the best thing I've yet written.
All my books are available through Amazon. Contact [email protected] if you are interested in acquiring signed copies, first editions or foreign-language editions.
