This book discusses the Armenian Genocide, which occurred during the period of World War I. The genocide was perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire, now in modern day Turkey. Armenians were forced to endure several injustices prior to the start of the genocide. They were forced into labor, taxed illegally, crimes against them were ignored, and were generally the minority where they were living. There were also some land issues that involved the Armenians. Ultimately, there were massacres in Armenian villages, forced death marches through the Syrian deserts, and forced conversion to Islam amongst Armenian women and children. Of course, the Ottomans did everything possible to deny their actions and prevent news of these crimes from spreading. They were unsuccessful in that attempt, and the genocide was formally condemned by Russia, Great Britain, and France. The United States called this a genocide as early as the 1980s, and has been considered as such in the following years. The government of Turkey still denies the genocide happened and refuses to take any responsibility or accountability for it.

I firmly agree with the assessment that the actions perpetrated against the Armenian people was a genocide. I think the response of governments around the world during the World War I period were lacking and disheartening. I think Turkey's continued denial of these events are pathetic. A lot of people are up in arms about Turkey denying this happened because people living today should not be held responsible for the actions of people 100 years ago. There is still a collective responsibility of society to admit and accept injustices that were done and make a collective movement forward in an attempt to restore relationships or advocate for things like this not happening again to anyone else. Especially in the current climate that so many people are living in... Overall, the research on this book is well done and very informative. Certainly worth reading.