jjares reviewed History of Armenia: A Captivating Guide to Armenian History, Starting from Ancient Armenia to Its Declaration of Sovereignty from the Soviet Union on + 3296 more book reviews
Armenia is one of the oldest homes of the human race. According to the Bible, Armenia may have been the home of the Garden of Eden. The capital of Armenia is near Mourn Ararat, and according to the Bible, Noah's Ark was beached there after the floods. Thus, the Armenians may have two reasons for thinking they are the cradle of civilization.
This is not an easy book to read because of the horrors these people have endured. They sit at the crossroads of the Middle East and the conflict between greater powers has left them decimated. Other empires used them as a buffer (between themselves and other powerful groups) and used their lands as a war zone.
Thank you to the author for explaining why the war elephants were so frightening. Lots of ancient history books mention them but not WHY they were so awe-inspiring. This book gives a great description; no wonder everyone was so terrified of the animals and their prowess.
Books mention that Armenia is/was rich in natural resources. Looking at photos of the mountainous country, it is hard to imagine what they have in abundance (other than hills and steppes). Googling, I found that Armenia is rich in copper ore, gold, rolled tobacco, hard liquor, oil, gas, shale, peat, iron, zinc, aluminum, lead, silver, and diamonds. Now, I understand why other empires have wanted their wealth.
One sentence from this book describes the Armenians wonderfully well: "Despite the fact that Armenia had not been independent for centuries, its people still had a ferocious independence when it came to their beliefs, and they would not be dictated to when it came to that." (page 62)
Having read other info about the Armenians, I wondered why they had spread out from their original homeland. This book explains this question of the Armenian diaspora well.
One thing this book did not explain was why Tamerlane decimated the Armenians. This book does say that Tamerlane murdered 20 million people. Researching the question: Tamerlane killed for personal glory, loot and 'the dark joy that wicked men absorb from inflicting pain on others. He was the worst of the least recognized psychopaths in history.'
The section on the Armenian genocide was even harder reading. It is hard to imagine that as recently as 1894 - 1896, 300,000 Armenians could be murdered and there was no one to complain or seek justice for the murdered. During the Turkification of Turkey, the Turks had a deep mistrust of their ethnic minorities and decided to eradicate them. During WWI, the Ottomans fought the Allied powers and their own Armenians at the same time.
The Velvet Revolution is an amazing story. It is the bloodless story of how the tiny republic of Armenia rid itself of corrupt prime ministers and presidents without firing a shot. This whole book is the story of a group of people suffering for 3000 years. If you are wondering why no one talks of the Armenian genocide (yet we hear of the Holocaust regularly), it is because of the difference in the countries involved. Germany admits to the Holocaust while Turkey ignores or denies it occurred.
This is not an easy book to read because of the horrors these people have endured. They sit at the crossroads of the Middle East and the conflict between greater powers has left them decimated. Other empires used them as a buffer (between themselves and other powerful groups) and used their lands as a war zone.
Thank you to the author for explaining why the war elephants were so frightening. Lots of ancient history books mention them but not WHY they were so awe-inspiring. This book gives a great description; no wonder everyone was so terrified of the animals and their prowess.
Books mention that Armenia is/was rich in natural resources. Looking at photos of the mountainous country, it is hard to imagine what they have in abundance (other than hills and steppes). Googling, I found that Armenia is rich in copper ore, gold, rolled tobacco, hard liquor, oil, gas, shale, peat, iron, zinc, aluminum, lead, silver, and diamonds. Now, I understand why other empires have wanted their wealth.
One sentence from this book describes the Armenians wonderfully well: "Despite the fact that Armenia had not been independent for centuries, its people still had a ferocious independence when it came to their beliefs, and they would not be dictated to when it came to that." (page 62)
Having read other info about the Armenians, I wondered why they had spread out from their original homeland. This book explains this question of the Armenian diaspora well.
One thing this book did not explain was why Tamerlane decimated the Armenians. This book does say that Tamerlane murdered 20 million people. Researching the question: Tamerlane killed for personal glory, loot and 'the dark joy that wicked men absorb from inflicting pain on others. He was the worst of the least recognized psychopaths in history.'
The section on the Armenian genocide was even harder reading. It is hard to imagine that as recently as 1894 - 1896, 300,000 Armenians could be murdered and there was no one to complain or seek justice for the murdered. During the Turkification of Turkey, the Turks had a deep mistrust of their ethnic minorities and decided to eradicate them. During WWI, the Ottomans fought the Allied powers and their own Armenians at the same time.
The Velvet Revolution is an amazing story. It is the bloodless story of how the tiny republic of Armenia rid itself of corrupt prime ministers and presidents without firing a shot. This whole book is the story of a group of people suffering for 3000 years. If you are wondering why no one talks of the Armenian genocide (yet we hear of the Holocaust regularly), it is because of the difference in the countries involved. Germany admits to the Holocaust while Turkey ignores or denies it occurred.
