“Ataturk: Lessons in Leadership from the Greatest General of the Ottoman Empire”, by Austin Bay, foreword by General Wesley K. Clark

 

202 pages, Palgrave MacMillan, ISBN-13: 978-0230107113

Austin Bay’s Ataturk: Lessons in Leadership from the Greatest General of the Ottoman Empire (with a foreword by General Wesley K. Clark) is part of a series published by Palgrave MacMillan called “The World Generals Series”, which includes biographies of Alexander the Great, Charles de Gaulle, Julius Caesar, Lafayette, Montgomery, Rommel and, perhaps, others, but these are all that I found. At a slim 202 pages, Ataturk is as brief a biography as can be found on the founder of the modern secular Turkish state, but seeing as Bay restricts himself to the military aspect of the man’s career, this is, perhaps, understandable.

My knowledge of the late Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye (Ottoman Empire or, literally, The Sublime Ottoman State) is limited, as is the founding of the Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (Republic of Turkey), so much of what I read on these two topics was enlightening. But the focus is, of course, on Ataturk, and on how this driven individual, blessed with a probing intelligence, physical courage, relentless foresight and a drive to succeed recreated his nation. Each of his triumphs, from Libya, to Gallipoli, and Anatolia are recorded, as is the evolution of Kemal’s thinking (he was “Mustafa Kemal” before he was “Kemal Ataturk”) as a leader and tactician.

But perhaps Bay’s best accomplishment is to whet my appetite for more information on Ataturk, his life and accomplishments, as this tiny book just does not tell me enough. So here I go, off on another book hunt.