Homer's Turk

Jerry Toner

“Expertly traces how the Greek and Roman classics were used in constructing images of the East… This brisk and intelligent study shows the extent to which the classics created many of the presumptions (and prejudices) of the modern political world.”—Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman

“In this erudite work of survey, synthesis, and analysis, Toner examines the ways in which English historians and travel writers used the classics as a scaffold for understanding and constructing images of the East through allusion and analogy. His scope is both broad and deep, exploring English notions of Islam, Arabs, and Turks, from the first forays into the Orient through the decline of British imperial might in the postwar period. The real strength of this work is the framework Toner establishes, arguing the flexibility of the classics, and their utility as a mechanism for British social cohesion and as a tool to separate Britain from the East… This is an excellent piece of scholarship.”—Evan Anderson, Library Journal

“The work makes a useful addition to understanding Western ideology.”—Publishers Weekly

“An eminently readable, well documented, and informative book.”—Dimitri Gutas, Yale University

“In this stimulating study, Jerry Toner guides us through an extensive body of English political works, historiography, and travel literature dating from medieval times through to the present that draw upon classical Greek and Roman authors to create images of Islam and the East.”—Richard Hingley, Durham University

“Toner is a passionate and illuminating guide on the fascinating subject of how the classics has for centuries molded our perceptions of the East and continues to do so today.”—Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles

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