Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was highly respected as a military genius by his commanders and comrades throughout his military life. After his military life, he received unprecedented respect and attention from the leaders of other states as a statesman.

Greek leader Eleftherios Venizelos admired Atatürk, who defeated him in 1934, enough to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Surely you have heard the words of praise about Atatürk from American, British, French and Japanese heads of state somewhere. Let’s take a look at the 10 best books written by foreign authors about the Great Leader.

Atatürk, Founder of Modern Turkey – Andrew Mango

Andrew Mango is a writer of Russian and British origin. Mango, who worked for 14 years as a senior executive at the BBC, had to do research for 5 years for this work in which he describes Atatürk objectively, and the more he researched, the more fascinated he became.

Atatürk – Klaus Kreiser

In this work, Kreiser, a renowned Turkologist and Orientalist (a Western researcher of Eastern culture), summarizes Atatürk as “first a soldier and politician who saw himself as the embodiment of the national will; later a cultural revolutionary who wanted to profoundly change religion and language, law and history, dress and music”.

Mustafa Kemal and the Awakening East – Paul Gentizon

In this book, written by Paul Gentizon, who worked for the Temps newspaper between 1922 and 1928, the author generally compares Atatürk’s revolutions with those of the East and lists the reasons for Atatürk’s success. The author considers Atatürk as the leader not only of Turkey but also of the whole East with his thoughts and civilizational behaviors; this is what the title of his book is dedicated to.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 1881 – 1938 – Willy Sperco

The Italian journalist and writer, who followed the First World War from Izmir, also used the expression “a determined, decisive and honorable person with the power to determine the future of a nation” for Atatürk in this book he wrote about Atatürk. It is also worth remembering that Sperco is a writer who holds the Order of the Italian State.

Ghost Rider – Ray Brock

On the back cover of Ray Brock’s novelization of Atatürk’s life, a very meaningful quote by Alexandra Dumas is quoted in dedication to Mustafa Kemal: “Two things make me love life: Freedom and love! I would give my life for love, but I would give up my love for freedom”.

Immortal Atatürk – Norman Itzkowitz

In this book, Itzkowitz, an American professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, one of the world’s leading universities, examines Atatürk’s life from his childhood onwards. Some readers say that there may be inaccurate character analysis in the book, let’s see what you think when you read it.

Democratic Dictator Atatürk – Parashkev Parushev

Although the word “dictator” appears in the title, it seems that the content is not quite like that… Let us remind that the Bulgarian author Parashev Parushev wrote this work on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Turkish Republic.

Mustafa Kemal, Death of an Empire – Benoist Mechin

In the book, which focuses specifically on the period of the National Struggle, the French politician and writer Mechin expresses his admiration for Atatürk in the following words: “Once again, the truth surpasses all that can be imagined, for the work of Mustafa Kemal has no parallel in history”.

Atatürk, Lessons on Leadership from the Genius General Who Founded Modern Turkey – Austin Bay

Austin Bay, an accomplished colonel and military historian who served in the US Army, discusses Mustafa Kemal’s military life in this book. Bay, who describes Atatürk as a military genius, also touches upon some of the events of the present day and compares and contrasts some developments.

Atatürk, Birth of a Nation – Lord Kinross

And now it was the turn of Lord Kinross’ work, which in our opinion is “the best book written by foreign authors about Atatürk“. Kinross, who describes Atatürk from his childhood to his eternal journey, has received many awards for these works. Kinross, who is a good researcher, started to write this work with the written order of the British Government. The work is one of the most famous biographies of Atatürk in the world, especially in England.

The book was so well received at the time of its publication that The Times commented, “This is the most comprehensive study of Atatürk ever published, a work of research that will fill many gaps in knowledge about the great leader who created modern Turkey and changed the course of history.“

In one of his quotes, the Great Leader said, “Seeing me is not just seeing my face; it is enough if you understand and feel my ideas, my feelings“. The first thing we need to do to understand the Great Leader is to read biographical works about Atatürk. For this reason, today, on the occasion of November 10, we wanted to introduce you to Atatürk biographies by foreign authors.