The aim of this manual is to provide a coherent and balanced historical perspective of Turkish political life the evolution of political ideas and key interpretations read together with the main social and cultural transformations. The manual starts with the modernization process of the early nineteenth century examines the main ideologies emerged since late 1800s their evolutions through the decades the key political events that shaped the political system presents the key intellectuals and politicians at the centre of Turkey's political life and ends by studying the AK Parti era. The book has been conceived as a manual for university BA courses of Turkish Politics Turkish political life and Political History of Turkey. However it is also a compact introduction for all those willing to understand contemporary Turkish politics.