Postings will remain light through the remainder of the summer, and into the early fall. During this period I will be dedicated to revitalized clinical medical research organization, and writing commitments.
Two non-medical writing projects are also underway which will extend (likely well) into 2016: a unique monograph on Koranic Jew-hatred, which will rivet upon key first time English translations from seminal modern, and classical Koranic commentaries; and a book on the American reactions, both diplomatic (such as those by then U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Horace Maynard), and broader public, to the 1876 Ottoman jihad massacres of the Bulgarians. This new treatment, from a U.S. perspective, of the aptly dubbed (for example, by William Gladstone) “Bulgarian Horrors”—see Konstantin Makovsky’s iconic 1876, “The Bulgarian Martyresses”, above—will feature an original approach that provides much contextual attention to the entire period of Ottoman jihad conquest and rule of Bulgaria, beginning in the mid-14th century. Here again, I will rely upon important new first time English translations of materials by great scholars of Ottoman Bulgaria (such as Bistra Tsvetkova, Ivan Snegarov, and others), as well as eyewitness accounts, for the latter period of Ottoman rule, from Western, including U.S. travelers.
