Public-domain ebook
Language: en1,209 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Travel Writing·British Literature·History - Modern (1750+)
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #65749.
Grace Ellison’s An Englishwoman in Angora is a first‑person travelogue that doubles as a political commentary on post‑World‑War I Turkey. The book opens with the author’s wry observation that Britain once held the highest esteem in the Ottoman world, followed by a humorous yet pointed exchange with a Turkish police officer who doubts an Englishwoman could be in Angora without American assistance. From that moment, Ellison frames her journey as a mission of “peace between us,” positioning herself as a bridge between English patriotism and a newly reborn Turkish nation under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The detailed table of contents reveals a chronicle that moves from the steamer Pierre Loti to the streets of Smyrna, Angora, and Constantinople, interweaving personal encounters with discussions of diplomacy, the League of Nations, and the reshaping of Turkish identity.
The narrative voice is conversational, witty, and steeped in the diplomatic sensibilities of the early 1920s. Ellison’s style blends anecdotal reportage with literary allusion, frequent references to Pierre Loti, Kip‑Kling, and contemporary politics give the work a distinctly interwar flavor. Readers who enjoy memoirs that combine travel, history, and a keen eye for cultural politics, particularly those interested in the birth of modern Turkey, British‑Turkish relations, or the role of women in early‑20th‑century diplomacy, will find Ellison’s observations both illuminating and entertaining.
The opening · free to read
To compare impressions from these visits one must first ask: “How could such a change of attitude come to pass?”
Formerly Great Britain was the country of all countries that “counted” in Turkey. To be a “gentleman”—(they used the English word)—was the Turks’ highest ambition. British stuffs were chosen in preference to French, not because they were finer or of greater value, but simply because they were British. Our ideals, our policy, and, I must add, our governesses, were almost regarded as sacred in Turkish eyes.
And now I am advised, for greater safety, to travel as an American! God forbid! I stand by the old flag.
I would smile, could the tears be hidden, when I recall the police officer who so solemnly enquired if I was sure I was not an American.
“Perfectly sure,” I replied.
“How then,” said he, “has that impossibility—an Englishwoman in Angora—become possible?”
“Your Government,” I answered, “has made it possible. As you have no one else here from my country, I have given myself this mission.... An old friend of the Turks, a woman who loves her own country! Can she not do something for that peace between us, which is a supreme necessity to both? That is why I am here.”
I do not forget that Turks were our “enemies” in the war. But they came back, beaten to the dust—and penitent. Then was the moment for us to have made our own terms. In that mood Turkey would have accepted—anything, but the one thing we imposed on her—the Greeks at Smyrna! That policy of sheer folly has transformed the veneration of her people into fear and distrust, if not hate.
Unjustly and unreasonably as we have behaved towards our old ally, we were not, indeed, alone in this mischievous exalting of Greek aggressions. Dare we not now own our mistake? We are great enough, and strong enough, to be generous, to mend our ways!
To-day, surely, it is the duty of English patriots to pour oil on the troubled waters, to explain to Turkey what can be explained, and to paint our countrymen, at least, less “black” than they have been made to seem by our rivals’ pen!
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
