The Mark of Years, as Turkish original name "Yılların İzi" is a work of memoir/recollection genre that tells the life of Mahir İz (1895-1974), a teacher, intellectual, and writer, recounting the incidents he experienced, the events he witnessed, and the personalities he knew. The work was published in 1975.

The Formation Process of the Book

His students, friends, and relatives were the reason for the book Yılların İzi, in which Mahir İz wrote his memoirs. His relatives, who wanted the teacher's words and memories not to be forgotten and wished to pass them on to future generations, made repeated requests, and with the close follow-up of Mahir İz's brother, Prof. Dr. Fahir İz, the book Yılların İzi emerged as a result of years of effort. Mahir İz collected his memoirs in four parts: 1-Personal memoirs, 2-Literary memoirs, 3-Social memoirs, 4-Professional memoirs. The naming of the book belongs to his friend Muhiddin Akçor Bey.

Mahir İz said the following about the formation process of his work Yılların İzi:

“My students, friends, and relatives caused me to write my memoirs. If I were to tell an incident I experienced, either in class or in any gathering when it came up, those present would certainly ask me to record them. I started, then took an eight-year break. I started again, and then there was another two-year gap. My brother, Prof. Fahir İz, began to follow this very closely. He showed examples from Europe, asked me in letters where I had reached from the places he visited; in short, he forced me to work. (…) Our dear friend Muhiddin Akçor Bey, who abandoned trade due to the deterioration of commercial ethics, also earned the great appreciation of his father-in-law Mehmet Akif Bey, and is a paragon of moral virtue, advised me to use “Yılların İzi” instead of “Yılların İzleri”, which I had previously considered. And I accepted his naming suggestion.”^【1】 

Content of the Book

“The work, composed of the memoirs of Mahir İz, who lived his eighty-year life in various places stretching from Istanbul to Medina within the vast geography of the Ottoman Empire during the periods of Union and Progress, the National Struggle, and the Republic, witnessed its collapse and salvation, and was a parliamentary minute clerk during the events that took place during the establishment of the Republic, is important in that it reveals some truths about the unknown political incidents of our recent history. In the book, the information provided by the author about his childhood, youth, school life, friends, teachers, companions, students, ideas, and life principles is organized into four sections.”^【2】 

Yılların İzi is a multi-layered narrative that includes not only Mahir İz's memoirs but also the cultural, political, and social transformations Türkiye has undergone. The memoirs, ranging from the last period of the Ottoman Empire to the establishment of the Republic and the intellectual climate shaped during this new period, offer important clues about the era through Mahir İz's personal observations. Mahir İz not only conveys the history he witnessed but also interprets, evaluates, and gives meaning to it. Thus, the book goes beyond being just a memoir, becoming both a period panorama and a cultural memory object.

Yılların İzi is a work in which Mahir İz describes, in his own style, the personalities, events, and social atmosphere he encountered during his nearly sixty-year long career in education. Mahir İz was in contact with prominent religious, literary, and political figures of the period, and he described their personality structures, their worlds of thought, and their roles in society with great care.

Some of the important figures included in Yılların İzi are: Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Fethi Okyar, Rauf Orbay, İsmet İnönü, Dr. Adnan Adıvar, Ömer Ferid Kam, Rıza Tevfik, Midhat Cemal Kuntay, Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, Nihad Sami Banarlı, Celal Bayar, Ahmet Süheyl Ünver, Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın. At the end of the work, there is a section containing elegies recited upon Mahir İz's death and articles published in the press. Additionally, many photographs related to the people and events Mahir İz recounted in his memoirs are also included at the end of the work.