Title: Birds Without Wings
First published: 2004
Description: Birds Without Wings is a novel by Louis de Bernières, written in 2004. Narrated by various characters, it tells the tragic love story of Philothei and Ibrahim. It also chronicles the rise of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the 'Father of the Turkish Nation'. The overarching theme of the story covers the impact of religious intolerance, over-zealous nationalism, and the war that often results. The characters are unwittingly caught up in historical tides outside of their control.

The book's title is taken from a saying by one of the characters, Iskander the Potter, "Man is a bird without wings, and a bird is a man without sorrows." The book includes a vivid and detailed description of the horrors of life in the trenches during World War I. Some of the characters are also present in the author's earlier novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin.
Subjects: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, History, Social conditions, Fiction, Fathers and sons, Relations, Christianity, Soldiers, City and town life, Islam, interfaith relations, World War, 1914-1918 in fiction, Fathers and sons in fiction, City and town life in fiction, Islam in fiction, Turkey in fiction, Soldiers in fiction, World War, 1914-1918 -- Turkey -- Fiction., World War, 1914-1918, Large type books, Fiction, historical, Fiction, religious, Fiction, war & military, Fathers and sons, fiction, World war, 1914-1918, fiction, Turkey, fiction, Fiction, historical, general, Romans, nouvelles, Christianisme, Vie urbaine, Pères et fils, Bevölkerung, Feindschaft, Griechisch-Türkischer Krieg, Kleinstadt
Places: Turkey, Gallipoli Peninsula, South West Anatolia
People: Karatavuk, Iskander, Philothei, Ibrahim, Musafa Kemal, Abdulhamid Hodja, Ayse, Charitos, Drosoula, Leyla, Mehmetçik, Polyxeni, Rustem Bey
Time periods: World War, 1914-1918, Mehmed V, 1909-1918, 1288-1918