Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful, well documented
Review: I completed reading this well documented and relatively easy to read book on the Armenian Genocide a couple of days ago, and it is a little difficult to believe that the authors of the negative reviews below have actually read the book. Though the history is quite sad and burdensome to read at times, there is nothing hateful about this book. In fact, Professor Balakian (it seems to this open-minded American reader) makes every effort to do what many of the reviewers below are accusing him of not doing, namely: attempting neutrality. Balakian attempts to place the genocide against the backdrop of the entire history of the time, presenting both sides (if one actually believes there are two sides to genocide) on almost every issue that has been negatively reviewed on. Overall, I think Peter Balakian's main idea is as follows: in which direction does the preponderance of the evidence point? Namely which conclusion - based on the archival documents of America, England, France, Germany and many other countries even Turkey, newspaper accounts, eye witness testimony of both missionaries and survivors, and on the writings of such eminent diplomats and activists as Arnold Toynbee, Ambassador Morgenthau, Ambassador Viscount Bryce, Clara Barton, etc...- is most likely to be true? Balakian's bibliography reads like a who's who of neutral trustworthy people. It sounds like some of the reviewers below would have us believe that Talat and Enver and the genocide itself were simply misunderstood and that scholars and activists such as Barton, Morgenthau, Bryce, Blackwell and Howe all got it wrong. By the time it is all over no Armenians will have ever died and Talat will be up for a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize. Professor Balakian accurately documents everything and is careful to "keep his voice down." I did not read any hatred in this book, only a deliberately told history lesson. It is an interesting twist that a book that describes the ultimate "hate-crime" is considered "hate-inspiring" by many of the reviewers. I guess the truth hurts, though I am sure not as much as the bayonets did eight decades ago. This was a great book, well worth the sixteen dollars and I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A people Killed Twice
Review: I am a book collector on Near Eastern history, the way you can tell a book is well researched and written is by the referencing and the bibliography contained in the book.I must say that this book has an amazing bibliography which includes books written mainly by non-Armenians and were printed before, during and directly after the events which occurred. On the other hand almost every book which is printed to deny the Armenian Genocide uses only recently published books which were published by other denialists.In 1985, the UN Committee on Human Rights published a report declaring the Ottoman Empire responsible for the massacres of the Armenians in 1915 and 1916. Two years later, the Council of Europe agreed that Turkey's refusal to recognise the genocide was an insurmountable obstacle to Turkey's admission to the EU. By the end of 2000, the European Parliament, France, Sweden, the Vatican and Italy finally acknowledged the Armenian genocide. Of the major powers, only the US, Canada and Britain still hold back. There are too many conflicting interests at stake. Turkey, for instance, threatened to deny the US use of its air bases if President Clinton agreed formally to accept the massacres as a genocide. Turkey has offered funding for academic programmes in the universities of Princeton and Georgetown. Three years ago, UCLA's history department voted to reject a $1m offer to endow a programme in Turkish and Ottoman studies because it was conditional on their denying the Armenian genocide. Professor Colin Tatz, director for the Centre for Comparative Genocide Studies at Macquarie University, in Sydney, Australia, claims that Turkey has used "a mix of academic sophistication and diplomatic thuggery . . . to put both memory and history into reverse gear". The majority of Turks remained ignorant of the genocide while it was happening, and have since. Mehmet Ergen, a 34-year-old London-based Turkish theatre director, confirms, "In our Turkish schools we never learnt about our history. The Armenian massacre was never mentioned. In London I heard that the Kurds were told that if they killed the Armenians they could take their lands. So they did, and then the Turks killed the Kurds." Ergen, a multiculturalist, laments Turkey's denial of "its own historical mosaic". He says, "even Turkish theatre owes its birth to Armenian writers and actors. Armenian, Greek and Jewish culture has vanished, and Turkey is the loser." As Thomas Bürgenthal, an Auschwitz survivor, lawyer and member of the UN Human Rights Committee, says, "I don't know why the Turks can't admit it, express sorrow and go on. That is the worst. You do all these things to the victim and then you say it never happened. That is killing them twice."
Rating:
Summary: April 24th, Armenian Martyrs Day
Review: As a first generation American-Armenian, I read this book and could not stop crying with every page. I was moved to write this critique for both my grandfathers, who as young children were the only survivors of both of their very large Armenian families, and who taught us how to love and how to sing and how to live with the past, and how to live with pride in the face of calamity. I am sorry that so many of the Turkish readers out there are in denial, I don't hate you, I won't give you the pleasure of knowing that your actions bring me to hate, but rather I pity you, I pity you because though you live in power, your world is one of ignorance and hatred. It is a power born of evil and murder and horrible atrocity. It is a power born of Genocide. It is a power born of the evil jealous mind of Talat Pasha. Imagine the difference, for our cashiered past, we the sons and daughters of the Armenians your grandfathers butchered now have as our heroes Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln while you on the other hand because of the lie under which you persist to live are relegated to the admiration of Talat Pasha and Mustafa Kemal. Indeed you took the land, murdered one and a half million people, tore down thousands of churches and ancient buildings, you won, but in your winning, you lost. You lost because now you must live in a false world built upon a false history where demons are angels. And it is surprising that you don't see this.
Rating:
Summary: Armenian Holocaust
Review: The wholesale massacre of Armenians by the Turks in the late 18th and early 19th century was something about which I was vaguely aware, but had no specific information to read. This well-written book fills in the gaps in my knowledge very well, even though it is more oriented toward the reaction of Americans and their government to what happened. This was pure out and out genocide, and the world stood by and did absolutely nothing. Granted, the world was a larger place back then, but big power politics played a great part in the reluctance of many governments to interfere in this slaughter. The book is not only a harsh indictment of the Turkish government, but also of those other governments that stood by and did nothing. They are, in some measure, as culpable as the actual perpetrators of the crimes. We see in this first genocide the seeds of the Nazi elimination of the Jews of Europe, and we are horrified. This is a powerful book, and everyonme interested in this period of history should read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Timely
Review: Burning Tigris is a timely addition to the literature on the Armenian holocaust. It has clarified many questions I have had as the granddaughter of an Armenian immigrant who lost his family, his home and his friends in the l915 slaughter. I was eager to read this historical account after reading Mr. Balakian's memoir, Black Dog of Fate, which was poetic, simple, haunting. Unfortunately, Burning Tigris is not as compelling as the memoir partly because is poorly edited -- it is redundant in parts and frequently rambles between time periods without apparent purpose. The book needed more concise and clear articulation of its theses. It might have also benefited by emphasizing that the Armenian genocide was perpetrated by deranged and fascist leaders and not Turkish Muslims generally, who for the most part lived peacefully with Armenians for many, many years. Notwithstanding its technical flaws, this book is an essential volume for the libraries of history students and all Armenian Americans. It also provides a moral backdrop for our consideration of the wars in the middle east, the genocide taking place in the Sudan and the diplomatic commitment we will need to promote understanding between the world's diverse cultures, religions and political regimes.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for all of humanity: Armenians and Non-Armenians
Review: First and foremost, I would like to THANK Peter Balakian for writing the The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response. If you read one book this year or this decade, than this should be the one whether you are Armenian or not. I have not read a better book or think will ever read a better book on the Armenian Genocide and all the political issues related to it throughout the years which continue through today. I often wondered how something so atrocious could occur with so many European and American civilians, politicians, witnessesing the horror, trying to stop it seeking the help of their foreign nations, but yet also being completely helpless. Balakian's research for this book is amazing. Not only does he clearly demonstrate Turkey's organized plan to erase Armenians and Armenia and its plan to begin the denial of the Armenian Genocide before it ever occured, he also writes about the political give and take between nations and their political reasons for morally and ethically failing all Armenians in 1915, and later on in recognizing the Genocide. I urge everyone to put this book on their mandatory reading list.
Rating:
Summary: Recognition seems so small, but it's everything
Review: A terrific book. Could not put it down. This book is honest and tender and wonderfully written and is having an impact.
Today, Idaho became the 33rd US state to officially recongize the Armenian Genocide. And also today, Canada became one of dozens of countries to officially recognize the Genocide. In addition three days ago, the New York Times after many months of research, recognized the events of 1915-1923 as genocide and will no longer use such phrases as "alleged." Recognition seems so small, but it's everything. Thank you Mr, Balakian for making a difference.
Rating:
Summary: So called Turkish reviewers?
Review: It is obvious from the reviewers' text that they have not read the book at all! Turkish government has on their payroll several so called historians who are hired to respond to anything written by anybody about turkey's crime against Armenians, Greeks, Syrians, Arabs, and Kurds. These historians are gisgrace to their profession and to the human race. I am wondering which of these historians are submitting these perverse reviews that turkish side submitting to the site. Balakian's book should be read by everyone who wants to learn about the turkish crimes commited even today.
Rating: 
Summary: Sad Story
Review: There is nothing in this book being based on real truths, mainly stories. I also read most of the comments and I could not stop myself posting. Following is another example of what has been happening for years. I found the article about Gevorg Chavush at the following web site which has a mission of promoting Armenian cultural awareness among young and informing all people about the Armenian Genocides of 1895 and 1915. http://www.usanogh.com/articles/article.php?story_id=255
(I would not get surprised if they remove the story) Some sentences from the story:
1. One of the best and very well known leaders of the Armenian movement for freedom, from the oppressive Turkish rule of the Ottoman Empire, was Gevorg Chavush 2. Gevorg Chavush, in 1890 joined a group of Armenian freedom-fighters 3. Gevorg Chavush took over the leadership of his military unit and lead the organized armed rebellion of Sasun, Mush, and Taron (1891-1894). 4. In the September of 1894, the Turkish government arrested him and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. 5. in 1901 he actively participated in the defensive battles of Berdak and Arakelots monasteries. 6. Many more heroic battles against Turkish troops and Kurdish bandits followed in Kars, Astkh and Arkavank. 7. Eventually, in May of 1907 Turkish soldiers surrounded Gevorg Chavush's military base in the Sulukh village of Mush where during yet another unequal battle against the enemy, legendary Armenian military leader Gevorg Chavush found his heroic end. 8. Source: "Haykazunk" printed in Yerevan, Armenia 2002 by Amaras. What I understood from this story is Armenians decided to rebel, to establish their own country starting from 1890s. Armenians considered these acts as their battle against the Ottoman Empire. As far as I know this already makes the acts committed during that time not genocide but war. Turkish people are not saying that Armenians did not die in those years, only saying that this was not a genocide. Genocide has a certain meaning, "the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group". I also found the following interesting; if there had been a genocide why would a country have gone through the trouble of arresting a terrorist and sentencing him for 15 years. There is no real evidence or a note which tells to destroy all Armenians, just the sad stories of people who suffered. I believe a lot of people suffered, Armenians, Turks, Kurds. I feel terrible for the people who died during that time. However the acts in question did not happen without any reason. Why did U.S. moved all the citizens of Japanese origin to the camps during WWII? What would have happened if they had rebelled? Why are we (U.S.) taking finger prints from the people of Middle eastern origin? If you want to be fair, it is important to consider the location, the time and the order of events in a story, not just small pieces cut from here and there. It is important to listen to both sides of the story. If you like to get emotional and cry a little, read this sad story. However keep in mind that is not a matter of public opinion, or voting. Do not condemn a nation. This is not fair.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully-written and well-researched!
Review: This is a book that will leave you in tears because the suffering of the Armenians was (and still is!) so great! The Christian Armenian minority were treated terribly by the sultan during the late 1890's and at the turn of the century. The starvation, massacre, rape, and cruelties done to the Armenians was absolutely evil. Hundreds of thousands were tortured and killed for simply being Armenian and Christian. It seems that it was the beginning of a century of violence unlike the world had ever seen. It seems that mankind cannot quench his thirst for blood; the 20th century has seen more human atrocities on a massive scale than any other in history. Has God abandoned us? Perhaps He has simply let us mortals get away with murder for a time and then there will be a "Great Judgment." When that Judgment Day comes, people like the Turkish Sultan, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Milosevic, and other demonically inspired world leaders will answer for the evil they inflicted on entire populations. There has to be a hell to punish such cruel, bloodthirsty men.
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