Charles MacFarlane: Turkey and its Destiny: The Result of Journeys Made in 1847 and 1848 to Examine into the State of that Country. London 1850 First edition, large in 8vo,complete in two volumes, contemporary full leather gilt,a very attractive binding, text clean and bright, overall in very good plus condition. MacFarlane had lived in Constantinople twenty years earlier, in 1827-1828 and published his first own account.He had initially been hopeful about the empire's potential to reform. His return in 1847-1848 was a shock. He saw Tanzimat reforms as a catastrophic failure that had destroyed the old, without successfully transplanting the European new. MacFarlane’s visit to the industrial complexes near Constantinople is characteristic. He describes them as unsightly and perilous holes, expensive, mismanaged, and destined for ruin. MacFarlane argues aggressively that no social regeneration is possible for the Turks as long as the harem system exists. He views the segregation of women as the root cause of the empire's stagnation. He provides a shrewd and often humorous but ultimately grim look at the Greeks and the Armenians. He argues that the new laws have often left them more vulnerable to corrupt local officials than they were under the old system. He was still impressed with the fatalism of the Turks. A fine travel account with clear analysis from someone who lived in the Levant and returned after 20 years