I'm usually hesitant to pay much attention to one-volume "traveller's companions" to whole countries, oriented as they are to the sort of sight-seeing that I hate to confuse with knowledgeable travel. I've never quite been able to fathom the idea of going to a country with no more background knowledge that what you've gleaned out of these sunny catalogues of things to see and do.

But I have to admit that not all people really care much about the background of the places they're seeing -- they just want a relaxing vacation. If this description fits you, the "Traveller's Turkey Companion" is a great guide to a great country to go relax in. There's a decent amount of information on culture and geography. And while personally I would prefer about five times as much information on accomodations and transportation and -- dare I say it? -- on places to see, this guide does a reasonably good job on this score.

However, you might want to check out the Rough Guides, Cadogan Guides, and Lonely Planet Guides -- as well as others -- for some more detailed information, as well as individual city and region guides. If your plans take you to Istanbul, I highly recommend Jane Taylor's magnificent guide to that city's monuments, "Imperial Istanbul: A Traveller's Guide" (which also includes Edirne, Iznik, and Bursa). In 340 pages, Taylor goes into considerable detail about the architecture of Istanbul, but livens this up with many interesting stories about the lives of the human beings who lived there. And of course, there are any number of excellent books for the scholar or the general reader without which I think any trip would be just incomplete. For a concise survey of the country's past, check out Richard Stoneman's "A Traveller's History of Turkey."