Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey
A Disputed Genocide
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Guenter Lewy
370pp.,6X9, 3 maps
Paper $23.00
ISBN 978-0-87480-890-2
Middle East, Political Science
In 1915, the Ottoman government, then run by the Young Turks, deported most of its Armenian citizens from their eastern Anatolian lands. According to reliable estimates, close to forty percent of the prewar population perished, many in brutal massacres. Armenians call it the first genocide of the twentieth century. Turks speak of an instance of intercommunal warfare and wartime relocation made necessary by the treasonous conduct of their Armenian minority.
The voluminous literature on this tragic episode of World War I is characterized by acrimony and distortion in which both sides have simplified a complex historical reality and have resorted to partisan special pleading.
The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey examines the rich historical evidence without political preconceptions. Relying on archival materials as well as eye-witness testimony, Guenter Lewy avoids the sterile “was-it-genocide-or-not” debate and presents a detailed account of what actually happened. The result is a book that will open a new chapter in this contentious controversy and may help achieve a long-overdue reconciliation of Armenians and Turks.
“A very significant contribution to a long-standing debate. There is no other comparable work that so objectively, thoroughly, and meticulously reviews and analyzes so many different sources on both sides of this bitterly divisive issue.” — Michael Gunter
“Guenter Lewy is a greatly respected American historian, whose books have shed light on versions of history that risked becoming set, and stifling future research. He has now turned his attention to the Armenian massacres of 1915, a subject encrusted with fossilized venom. His book, which has Olympian fair-mindedness as well as thorough knowledge of the various sources, now replaces everything else.” — Norman Stone
GUENTER LEWY is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
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