Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide by Thomas de Waal, is a very complete investigation of the slaughter of the Armenian people in 1915.
But the book is so much more: de Waal takes a long look at relations between Armenians and Turks both before and after the killings. And most importantly, how the killings have been framed by Armenians, Turks, and the world community in the decades following the events.
As creatures we do this: we kill an entire people because of who they are, or the threat we believe they possess. All of them die: men, woman, children, innocent, guilty... and everyone in between. Genocide happens in 1915 and among the Rohingya in Myanmar in 2017.
There is no reason to think genocide will not happen again and again.
But the book is so much more: de Waal takes a long look at relations between Armenians and Turks both before and after the killings. And most importantly, how the killings have been framed by Armenians, Turks, and the world community in the decades following the events.
As creatures we do this: we kill an entire people because of who they are, or the threat we believe they possess. All of them die: men, woman, children, innocent, guilty... and everyone in between. Genocide happens in 1915 and among the Rohingya in Myanmar in 2017.
There is no reason to think genocide will not happen again and again.
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