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CHAPTER 5 – TWO SHIRTS OF FLAME 
181 
of all the officers, most particularly Peyami’s and İhsan’s. And here comes the shirt 
of flame. Peyami is speaking of İhsan
34
: 
I thought
of the sudden palor of his cheeks, the fever burning in his eyes 
and the volcanic emotion which rose in his rigid but quietly rigid body. I 
said to myself: under this high collar of the staff officer is a ruddy shirt, a 
shirt of flame. 
 
The narrative unfolds against a background of real events. Istanbul was truly divided 
between pessimistic “appeasers” and hopeful “nationalists”. There really was a great 
demonstration in Sultanahmet addressed by Halide Edip and she describes it in the 
novel in great emotional detail but completely abstains from revealing herself in it. 
The presence of Mehmet Emin is noted
35
: 
No new national crisis gave them confidence or hope. The halo of a 
martyred nation crowned us, comforted us assured us that each human 
heart beat for and with us. “the people were our friends and the 
government our enemies”.
 
All three heroes attend the demonstration. They also escape to Anatolia just as many 
Nationalists did including Halide Edip. The emigrants, as Halide Edip calls them, 
from Macedonia really were supporters of the Nationalist movement because of their 
expulsion from their homeland. There really were irregular bands as represented in 
the novel by Mehmet Çavuş and others. There really was an antinationalist uprising 
in the Bolu area, there was an “army of the Caliphate” and some of the irregulars 
34
Adıvar 1924, 59 
35
Adıvar 1924, 37, 39 

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CHAPTER 5 – TWO SHIRTS OF FLAME 
182 
truly defected from the Nationalists. As Halide Edip herself says in a footnote 
Mustafa Kemal really did have Black-sea men as his personal guard known as 
“Black Shadows”
36
. Obviously too the Battle of Sakarya which is described with 
particular attention to the topography near the end of Peyami’s narrative is a real 
event.
In a continuous passage between pages 126-131 Halide Edip brings together three 
such themes. First the noble Anatolian guerrilla who first rose up but is now 
suspicious of the order which a regular army will bring; he is compared to the 
mythical figure of Köroğlu whose cave, as Halide Edip reminds the English reader in 
a footnote, was itself in the Bolu region; second the sufferings and nationalist zeal of 
Macedonian refugees; and third the residual loyalty of local notables to the Sultanate. 
First the noble Anatolian guerrilla
37
:
His body was thick and strong as an oak tree, his skull round and shaved 
at the top while a handful of long black locks fall on his well pencilled 
brows. His eyes were black as coals, his nose fine, a little long and 
twisted slightly to one side. His face showed humour, sentiment and great 
capacity for passion. His red lips parted and he had the whitest teeth I 
36
Adıvar 1924, 89 footnote 1. Also Mango, 292, refers to Yakup Kadri’s remark in 
Vatan Yolunda
that Mustafa 
Kemal was not universally popular in the assembly. The most common complaint was that he devoted more time 
to politics, instead of leading the army. (Mango reads from Karaosmanoğlu 1978, 107. I could only consult the 
first edition of 1958, 139-142). Also Yakup Kadri, in 
Atatürk
(Karaosmanoğlu 1961, 39) notes that : “Mustafa 
Kemal Paşa ordudaki nüfuzuna dayanmazsa,
ne Meclişte sözünü geçirmek, ne de Ankara’da rahatça yaşamak 
imkânını bulurdu” (Had it not been for his influence in the army, Mustafa Kemal would not have been able to get 
his way in the assembly, or even live in Ankara. The vigilant guard which surrounded him, as if he was in 
constant danger, was proof of this). The translation is from Mango, 370 quoting from Yakup Kadri’s 
Atatürk’s 
1978 edition.
37
Adıvar 1924, 126-127

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