''Between Two Empires: Ahmet Ağaoğlu and the New Turkey'' is a 2002 book about

Ahmet Ağaoğlu Ahmet Ağaoğlu, also known as Ahmet Bey Ağaoğlu (; or Ahmet Akif Agaoglu (December 1869, Shusha – May 19, 1939, Istanbul) was a public and political figure of Azerbaijan and Turkey, thinker, publicist, educator, writer, Turkologist, and ...

by A. Holly Shissler, published by I.B. Tauris.

Subject matter

The book is a case study of

, covering religion, society, nationality and their interactions. Sam Kaplan describes the book: "''Between Two Empires'' is the story of an intellectual's struggle to reorganize social relations in the Muslim and Turkic world, first into a morally homogenous community, and later following World War 1, into politically exclusive nations—all the while upholding a liberal individualistic rapport to society."

Reception

Kaplan praised the book as a case study but noted that as a republished dissertation, it would have benefited from further editing.

Kemal Karpat Kemal Karpat (15 February 1924, Babadag Tulcea, Romania – 20 February 2019, Manchester, New Hampshire, United States) was a Romanian- Turkish naturalised American historian and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Early life ...

found some "blemishes" but praised the book's "wide theoretical scope, penetrating comparative analyses, and multifaceted qualities."

Feroz Ahmad Feroz Ahmad (26 January 1938 – 20 February 2025) was a Turkish-American academic, historian, and political scientist who taught at different universities, including the University of Massachusetts Boston, Tufts University, Harvard University, ...

wrote that Shissler accomplished her goal of providing an analysis of Ağaoğlu's intellectual development and called the book "a compelling account of a life that had a dramatic impact on two empires and a nation-state." Michelangelo Guida noted minor errors in transcription of Turkish names, but ultimately suggested that the book was helpful in understanding Ağaoğlu as an important figure in the early years of the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite journal , last1 = Kaplan , first1 = Sam , author-link = The Pedagogical State , date = Nov 2004 , title = Review: Between Two Empires: Ahmet Ağaoğlu and the New Turkey by A. Holly Shissler , journal =

International Journal of Middle East Studies The ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'' is a scholarly journal published by the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA), a learned society. See also * Middle East Research and Information Project * Association for ...

, publisher =

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, volume = 36 , issue = 4 , pages = 695-697 , jstor = 3880024 {{cite journal , last1 = Karpat , first1 = Kemal H. , author-link = Kemal Karpat , date = June 2004 , title = Reviews of Books , journal =

The American Historical Review ''The American Historical Review'' is a quarterly academic history journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association, for which it is an official publication. It targets readers interested in all period ...

, volume = 109 , issue = 3 , pages = 1016-1017 , doi = 10.1086/530735 {{cite journal , last1 = Ahmad , first1 = Feroz , author-link = Feroz Ahmad , date = September 2003 , title = Review: Between Two Empires: Ahmet Ağaoğlu and the New Turkey by A. Holly Shissler , journal =

Journal of Islamic Studies The ''Journal of Islamic Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal for the field of Islamic studies. The journal was founded in 1992 at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and is published by Oxford University Press. It is indexed by the ...

, volume = 14 , issue = 3 , pages = 392-394 , jstor = 26200287 {{cite journal , last1 = Guida , first1 = Michelangelo , date = 2004 , title = Review: Between Two Empires, Ahmet Ağaoğlu and the New Turkey by A. Holly SHISSLER , journal = Oriente Moderno , publisher = Istituto per l'Oriente C. A. Nallino , volume = 23 (84) , issue = 3 , pages = 770-771 , jstor = 25817981 2002 non-fiction books Ağaoğlu family History books about Turkey