Andrew Mango was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1926. He is a British author, one of three sons of a prosperous Anglo-Russian family.

Professor Cyril Mango an Oxford historian with byzantine expertise is Mango's brother. Mango's early years were passed in Istanbul but in the mid-1940s he left for Ankara and a job as a press officer in the British Embassy.

Career in the BBC

Mango moved to the United Kingdom in 1947 and has lived in London ever since. He holds degrees from London University, including a doctorate on Persian literature. He joined BBC's Turkish section while still a student and spent his entire career in the External Services, rising to be Turkish Program Organizer and then Head of the South European Service.

He served in the BBC for over 40 years and retired in 1986.

Career as an Author

He was commission by British publishers to write a biography on Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, since Lord Kinross's biography was not as powerful because Lord Kinross could not read Turkish sources.

After five years he published his biography using Turkish sources called Atatürk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey. The book was highly praised and revealed more information on Ataturk's complex history and personality.

His next book The Turks Today argued that the Turkish republic was well on it's way to becoming a modern society that could rival European nations. The book also notes that Turkey would become a major economic power and will rank in the middle of OECD group in terms of GDP per capita.

In 2005, Mango published Turkey and the War on Terrorism, in which he presented the war on terror was being fought by Turkey long before 9/11.

Works

• Turkey and the War on Terrorism (2005)
• The Turks Today (2004)
• Atatürk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey (2000)
• Turkey: The Challenge of a New Role (1994)
• Discovering Turkey (1971)
• Turkey (1968)