Fez of the Heart: Travels Through Turkey in Search of a Hat

This is Jeremy Seal's quest, by means of a fez, for the heart of a country culturally and spiritually at odds with herself. The fez's opposing associations - both revered Eastern-Islamic headdress and banal tourist souvenir - exactly reflects Turkey's cultural faultline. While Turkey pays court to the EC and becomes the latest mecca for mass-tourism, the resurgent voices of Islamic traditionalism and Kurdish separatism are stark reminders of the country's complex cultural topography.

Prizes: Short-listed for Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award 1996.