Rating: Summary: This is an amazing book, very true to histroy and fact Review: I have never given a review on any book prior to this, but this book was so well written that I felt I needed to give it review. The analytical breakdown is very precise and complete. the structure of the book progresses well, and is very captivating. I couldn't put this book down. I highly recommend this book to anyone that seeks to better understand the concept of genocide. Great job!
Rating: Summary: Kudos to Ms. Power Review: Ms. Power sheds considerable light on this most despicable human activity especially regarding the Armenian Genocide. The denial of the Armenian Genocide by the present Turkish government represents one-upmanship of Holocaust deniers. The Moslem population of Turkey treated Christians as rayabs, or cattle, who were not and never could be entitled to the privileges of Believers. The example followed by today's Taliban. Under Abdul Hamid, known as 'Abdul the Damned,' the 1894-6 massacres of 350,000 Armenians took place throughout all the Armenian provinces. Christians were easy prey since they could possess no arms. An excellent reason for Americans to defend their Second Amendment rights 'to keep and bear arms.' Rafael de Nogales, Inspector General of the Turkish forces in Armenia during World War I, attest to 'the martyrdom and slaughter of the million and one-half of Christians who perished during those massacres.' He quotes the Grand Vizier Talaat Pasha (one of the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide): 'The massacres! What of them! They merely amuse me.' No wonder Tsar Nicholas I described Turkey as "the sick bear of Europe." By 1917, fewer than 200,000 Armenians remained in Turkey out of a prewar population of about 3 million Armenians from the heartland of historical Armenia.
Rating: Summary: Messages From the Past... Review: A superb writing of atrocities of modern man. It gives the reader a sense of where modern day democracy lies, and where imperialism ends. All events depicted happened; there is no denying them; although there are many people who try (even on this message board). There are too many artifacts and documents depicting the events mentioned to feel or state otherwise. The author does an excellent job at giving a descriptive discussion of these events. This book is a true example of the fact that modern day genocides will always have a voice in culture, just as the spirits who suffered will always be heard.
Rating: Summary: Great Job Samantha Review: I would like to say that Mrs. Power did an excellent job on the chapter about the Armenian Genocide. The Turks would like to "play dumb" and act like major events in history can just be looked over. Sorry, but you have officially [angered] the Armenian People, I hear the screams of the lives that your great grandfathers sacrificed, and we are coming back for everything you owe. Great job on telling the undeniable truth Mrs. Power.
Rating: Summary: Condemnation and Recognition of Genocide Review: The condemnation of Genocide is the first step towards its prevention. Power writes a book with high moral standards and its pages are filled with justice. I suggest this book to anyone who seeks truth and believes that when evil gets away with murder, it comes back tomorrow with more.
Rating: Summary: One of the Year's Finest Reads Review: Powers eloquently chronicles U.S. responses to Genocide in the 20th Century, beginning with its abstention to intervening in the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks. She also brings light upon the realm of Turkey's campaign of denial (which is currently very active) of their systematic annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians beginning in 1915, an event which Lemkin used to coin the term "Genocide." From that atrocious historical event, we are introduced to U.S. foreign policy of nonnintervention in genocide beginning with the Ottoman Turkish genocide of the Armenians, the Nazi Holocaust, Hussein's annihilation of the Iraqi Kurds, the Cambodian genocide by Pol Pot, the Rwandan eradication of the Tutsis, and even the Bosnian Serbs' slaughter of the non-Serbs. She draws connections between these events through dividing the cases into warning-recognition-response and aftermath sections. Through reading this book, the reader is forced to "believe what is unbelievable" (Lemkin) and we are faced with the duty of witness.
Rating: Summary: Never Again? Review: This book is an excellent read, although the subject matter is, to say the least, difficult from an emotional standpoint. Anytime you can read 500 plus pages and not feel that the writing has bogged even once, then you know that the writer is indeed gifted. I found the book very informative, particularly in explaining the origin of the term genocide and in its description of the political situations surrounding the latter-day genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, and the Balkans. The images in this book are very powerful, and at times I felt as if my heart were breaking as I read about the victims of these heinous crimes. I felt anger and shame at the way the world so easily turns its back on the dead and the dying. I can only watch and wait to see if the next time, the phrase "never again" has any real meaning, but I will certainly take the advice of the author to at least try and raise a voice in protest and hope that someone listens.
Rating: Summary: Genocide is the curse of mankind. Review: Samantha Power has written an important book which should be read by all Americans and indeed all English readers residing any place in the world. She points up the problem, which is almost insuperable, that genocide is difficult to prevent and more difficult to punish. The victors write history or, at least in the Turkish case, try to re-write history. Those who are exterminated, or almost exterminated, have little or no recourse to justice. One of the ironies of history is that the state of Israel, the representative of the long-suffering Jews throughout the world and the defenders of the sacred memory of the Holocaust, is now playing "real politics" by coopering with Turkey to deny the Armenian Genocide. This irony points up glaringly the problem of bringing the perpertrators to justice. We need more books like Powers'.
Rating: Summary: Succinct Account of Major Genocides and U.S. Reaction Review: Samantha Power has written powerful reasons why the U.S. and other world powers are remiss to idly sit pat when genocide is perpetrated against fellow humans. One of the most telling comments comes from Adolph Hitler who reassured his henchmen that the world will sit watching when the Nazis unfold their scheme for genocide because the world was complacent when the Ottoman Turks perpetrated a genocide against their Armenian citizens. Had the world interceded in 1915 it may have thwarted the Nazis from unleashing the Holocaust. Ms. Power makes it clear that evil must be nipped in the bud or onlookers must share the guilt.
Rating: Summary: This book was extremely impressive. Review: The information in this book was written in such a way that it was interesting as well as informative.
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