Istanbul Letters (Kindle Single) (A Vintage Short) (English Edition)

A Vintage Shorts Original Selection Why do some forms of violencethe beheading of journalists by the Islamic State, a bombing in Ankara, or the attacks in San Bernardino and Orlandomake us feel so threatened, while other formsthe 372 separate mass shootings in America in 2015 or the 4,219 Syrians killed that same Septemberdo little to challenge our sense of safety? From his base in Istanbul, Elliot Ackerman has written letters and essays that explore how global and seemingly remote issues like terrorism, US foreign policy, and other geopolitical forces play out and wreak distress upon the quotidian lives of civilians. Here assembled into a haunting piece, the fragments of a years notes open a window into life under President Recep Tayyip Erdoans oppressive and nationalistic right-wing regime, the civil war in Syria, and the disintegration of the old order in the Middle-East. Exposing how a pervasive rhetoric of fear can shape a society and written with intimacy and a tremendous amount of compassion, this is an astute political commentary and first-person travel narrative par excellence. An ebook short.