Rating: 
Summary: unfounded thesis:wrong history knowledge
Review: ..."A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide" doesn't [have] very good history knowledge and [was] not very good [researched]. Which types sources were used by Writer. ie. Ottaman, Russia and French and Britain Libraries, were used ?
[why is there a] relation with genocite of Hitler, Turkish Independance War. Increidible. there is no any similarity among them...
Rating:
Summary: 1 Star or 5 Stars !
Review: In writing a book on as serious a subject matter as genocide, the reader has to expect from an author as talented as Samantha Power a very thorough research, objectivity and a scholarly approach. What the reader is faced with in this book unfortunately is again a very talented author who is obviously very much misled. How else could one justify any assassination as the carrying out of National Justice? How is it that the author can admit publicly that she is not familiar with the events around 1915 in Eastern Anatolia, and go on to write a book on the events of those times? Why would the author be frequently referring to Armenian view points but never once giving a chance to the accused? How can we view today what happened in those days as genocide when under British rule in those days an Armenian scholar, Haig Karzanian, actually did bother to do the research and found the accused, all 144 accused officials NOT GUILTY?
Bernard Lewis, Sam Weems, Justin McCarthy, Stanford Shaw are all American Scholars with a great deal of expertise on this subject, unfortunately and admittedly, despite her obvious talent, Samantha Power is not.
If anything, Turks are known to be providers of a safe haven for the underprivileged and the weary. Just ask the Sephardic Jews who were saved by the above accused Ottomans when an actual act of Genocide was taking place against them. Ask any Jew today if there is any comparison or similarity in their suffering with the Armenian uprising against the Turks.
Why is it that there is no mention of the Turkish casualties in this book? Don't Muslim lives count? Was it not the Armenians themselves who took up arms against a government under whose rule they had lived and prospered for hundreds of years? Why is it that the so-called genocide was supposedly being committed in one geographic region where in another region Armenians were and still to this day are living in peace with their Turkish neighbors?
Unfair, inflammatory yet effective enough to get praise from the Armenian Diaspora, this book is.
Scholarly, based on research, unbiased, it is not.
Hence, the reader reviews giving this book either 1 or 5 stars and nothing in between.
Respectfully
Rating: 
Summary: See no evil
Review: This is a penetrating history of the course of twentieth century genocide, including the history of the invention of the neologism by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew who warned about Hitler's designs in the 1930's, but was unheard. The book opens with Lemkin's heroic efforts during and after the war up to his stalking the corridors and cafeterias of all the relevant institutions of the era, especially the UN, attempting to promote a genocide convention, and badgering diplomats to listen. The portrait of his persistence is telling, and is succeeded by the account of Senator Proxmire and his decades of daily speeches on ratification. The book details the at best sluggish, if not inert, response of the United States to all the outbreaks of genocide in the twentieth century, from the Armenian genocide to Kosovo and Rwanda. Diplomats tend to be Sunday school graduates who go on to diplomatic colleges where devoted philosophical study of the principles of Machiavel induce them to do the 'right thing'. The problem is that intervention would cynically be the excuse of empire. But the world has no true international community and we live still in a barbarous age dressed up in technocratic pretension.
Rating:
Summary: A long overdue assesment of Genocide, and American politics
Review: A well balanced, and candid look into American Policy, as it pertains to the issue of Genocide with all of its nuances, and Geoplolitical angles of referance. A must read for anyone remotely interested in crimes against humanity, starting with the first Genocide of the of the Twentieth Century The Armenian Genocide onto Ruwanda. Bravo!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Enlightening and Insightful
Review: Samantha Power has truly done a great service to all of humanity with this book. Reading about the multiple genocides that have occurred during our times, from the Armenian Genocide, to the Jewish Holocaust, to Rwanda and the inaction or support of these regimes by our government, is upsetting to say the least. The common theme during all these horrifying crimes seems to be the moral ease with which our State Department consistently takes the politically or commercially expedient position instead of representing the humanitarian principals on which our country was founded.Shame on us for not pressuring our government to adhere to higher moral principals in stopping these crimes. At minimum, we should not allow them the latitude of linguistic gymnastics by forcing them to call a genocide a genocide as opposed to any other clever non-legally binding terms. The book gave me a clear understanding of how much work there is to be done to bring greater humanity and justice to the world. For example, the understanding the book gives you of what it took to address the genocide issue and all its legal ramifications with the UN is fascinating. Equally interesting is how much work there is yet still to be done to bring about actual legal proceedings under the UN genocide convention. After reading the book and the host of denials of the Armenian Genocide in many of the reviews, it is evident that the genocidal tendencies of certain groups of people is still alive and well, and even government supported unfortunetly. The Turkish government, for example, must come to terms with their history just as Germany has come to terms with it's past. For the purpose of knowing and understanding this sort of evil and the lessons of history better, it is a very worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful example of critical thinking
Review: Ms. Samantha Powers has spent countless hours and an immense amount of energy researching the issues and facts she discusses very eloquently. Her book not only discusses the various Genocides ignored by the modern world, but she also brings to light the greatest tragedy of Genocide - denial. If one is looking for a critical and substantive look at Genocide, I highly recommend this book. If one is looking for a white washed revisionist look at history, then I do not recommend this book. This book not only does justice to the millions of unrecognized Genocide victims, but also a great credit to historical writing and analysis.
Rating:
Summary: Long Overdue
Review: This book's analysis of America's foreign policy as it applies to genocide in the 20th century is right on the mark, and long overdue. Especially since the September 11th attacks, American readers need to understand the policies which lead others to believe America is hypocritical, only standing up for justice and human rights when it serves U.S. interests. "A Problem from Hell" illuminates a subject never before discussed in such a full way. Citizens and political leaders should take note to inform their future actions.
Rating:
Summary: three million lives vanished under Kemal's regime
Review: Samantha Power writes in her book about the Armenian Genocides but excludes the Greek, Assyrian and other ethnic minorities of Asia Minor (which is now Turkey). Regardless, her book is praiseworthy.
For the record, In 1922, Mustafa Kemal along with his regular troops and his "chettes" (non-regular troops) made his promise of "Turkey for the Turks" a reality -- by burning down the City of Smyrna and its Christian inhabitants.
end.
Rating: 
Summary: melanie from D.C
Review: Samantha Power's book is interesting but, it is misleading in many aspects. It has been lot of writers failure to write about something as deep as a so called genocide topic, without having the expertise that is required to do so. One need not to be turkish or an armenian in order to comment I guess? So, let's leave historical facts to the historians, rather than publishing inefficient books such as these. In fact,her comments reflect her point of view, which provides the reader some perspective of its kind whereas this is not a novel so, it requires a well-established reference and research to write about such a strong topic. For that reason, it is only a book to learn about a different perspective, but that is all that it can contribute.
Rating:
Summary: Not Compatible with Historical Facts
Review: The contents of this book are not only biased/politicized but they also are not compatible with historical facts as provided by eminent historians such as Justin MCCarthy and Bernard Lewis as well as official British, Russian and Turkish records. The contents of this book are well challenged by a new book on the topic by S. A. Weems ' The Secrets of a Christian Terrorist State, Armenia'. The present Republic of Armenia is indeed a totalitarian state of terror according to our state department. Although majority of Armanians including the ones who are living in peace in Turley and the The Republic of Armenia ready to make peace with Turkey such publications unfortunately provoke further hatred especially in these times when we need peace more than ever. In short this book has no credibility with respect to historical facts and well serves the purpose of provoking hatred by spreading misinformation.
|
