A turban is a strip of cloth folded and wrapped around the head; however, this description includes multifarious forms across space and time. This book follows the turban as it moves from the Arabian Peninsula through the Ottoman Empire to Europe and the Americas. It directs the reader's gaze from traditional and religious uses of the turban into the realms of international trade, Renaissance art and contemporary fashions. Turbans, as this book shows, have moved in and out of Western culture, at times considered archaic and forgotten, then noticed and reinstated as major accessories. Today Sikh men are recognized by their distinctive headwraps, and the turban remains an important part of Black culture. This book explores the turban's many adaptations worldwide.

Delightful: a work full of insight, mischief, wisdom and, most pleasing of all, illustrations . . . [The] book traces the path of the turban into Western iconography and is a study of how this most Eastern form of headwear captured the Occidental imagination, coming to feature in art, literature, fashion, festivity and, in the 20th century, Hollywood movies. * Wall Street Journal *
Filstrup and Merrill write enjoyable prose not weighed down by theoretical baggage. With gorgeous illustrations and no-less-colourful characters, their grand tour with the turban is highly recommended. * BBC History Magazine *
Filstrup and Merrill trace the history of head-wrapped cloth, from sixth-century Bedouins protecting themselves against the desert sun to Sarah Jessica Parker donning a gold-silk wrap designed by Ralph Lauren . . . The Turban exposes a paradox. I can’t imagine ever surrendering my turban. It’s become soldered to my identity, serving as both the ultimate in-group badge and a versatile stylistic accessory: eye-catching, a bit exotic, an opportunity to add color and flair. * Manvir Singh, The New Yorker *
I'm impressed by the scope of this study, from the turban as a marker of religious affiliation to a prop for Rembrandt to a distinctive fashion for women. Headgear off to Filstrup and Merrill. * Gay Talese *
The Turban is a lively romp through the history and geography of this now ubiquitous headgear. The book offers unexpected nuggets from ancient origins in Asia to the turban's function in contemporary fashion. * Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Marquand Professor of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University *

Chris Filstrup (Author)
Chris Filstrup was Chief of the Oriental Division at the New York Public Library and Dean of Libraries at Stony Brook University. He is co-author with Jane Merrill of The Wedding Night (2011) among other titles. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

Jane Merrill (Author)
Jane Merrill has written for many national U.S. magazines and is the author of The Showgirl Costume (2018) and other cultural histories. She lives in Saint George, Maine.