Louis De Bernieres offers sweeping historical scope, memorable characters, drama, and many new vocabulary words in this stupendous novel set in Anatolia during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. He interweaves a tale of family with the history of the rise of Ataturk, much about the decline of religious tolerance -- and a dazzling centerpiece in which a young townsman fights his way across Gallipoli. It's a big book, ambitious, generous and satisfying.  (TKY91, $15.00)

Best of 2004