Birds Without Wings
Louis De Bernieres’ (“Corelli’s Mandolin” Novel and Movie) new “Birds Without Wings” introduces us to a small village in western Turkey at the end of the Ottoman Empire. Following a variety of local characters we live through the Great War (WWI) and its aftermath. The village has nourished its peaceful Greek Christian and Turkish Muslim populations for millenniums until the intervention of the West during the breakup of the culturally tolerant Ottoman Empire. Follow the actual history of this entire region including the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, Iraq, and Palestine and the terrible repercussions of mindless Western decisions. Must reading for anyone trying to understand how we got here in the region.