Search This Blog

Saturday, 4 July 2015

The Great Catastrophe - Thomas de Waal

Thomas de Waal writes very well on the Caucasus region - his books are very well-balanced and thorough.

This book looks at the Armenian catastrophe or genocide but from a different perspective.  It begins with a good summary of the events of 1915 to 1916.  The rest of the book looks at what has happened within the Armenian community, between Turkey and Armenian organizations and also between Armenia and Turkey in the decades following the Catastrophe - the post WW 1 negotiations, the attacks on Turkish diplomats, in-fighting between different Armenian organizations, differences in points of view between diaspora Armenians and Armenia's government and citizens, recent diplomatic initiatives between Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Nothing earth shattering in terms of revelations, but very informative on the subject.

To Find
1. Caleb Gates, Not to Me Only
2.  Rafael de Nogales, Four Years Beneath the Crescent (period acc't from Ottoman officer)
3.  Grigoris Balakian, Armenian Golgotha (period acc't)
4.  Michael Mann, The Dark Side of Democracy (state-building and genocide)
5. Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands (Balkan history early 20th c)

No comments:

Post a Comment