Culture of Taiwan: Taiwanese aborigines, History of Taiwan, Taiwan under Japanese rule, His... Book

I read a lot of history so I know a good history when I see one. This book is history as it ought to be written. It is not only 'modern' in the sense that it covers the modern era; it is modern in its approach to history, giving due weight to economic and social factors and citing scholarship on the cutting edge for each chapter. The idea of the book is that modern Turkey did not begin abruptly with Ataturk's republic but rather began sometime around 1800. The story of the decline of the Ottoman empire and the desperate attempts to keep it alive for the next 120 years is a compelling one with a tragic feeling of futility throughout. This is followed by the drama and violence of the war for Independence, an extraordinary story in its own right. But the establishment of the Republic is put in its proper context as the culmination of a longer process while Ataturk is knocked down a peg from his god-like status, despite the author's obvious admiration for the man. The story is not quite as exciting after the great man's death, but it is still worth getting an idea of how Turkey survived through three military coups to reach the status that it holds today. The book is, however, seriously due for an update as it stops at around 2002 and has nothing to say about the era of Erdogan.