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Late in life, Merrill D. Peterson, a professor emeritus of history and the author of numerous earlier books on American presidents and history, "became fascinated by ... the genocide committed by the Ottoman Turks during the First World War" (p. xi). He argues that "in the absence of any public retribution for the crime against the Armenians ... the crime festered in the hearts of the Armenian people until it became a hallmark of their national character" (pp. 122-23). Much of his short book deals with the activities of the Near East Relief organization from 1915-29.
Although he writes well and thus makes a strong emotional case for the Armenians, Peterson fails to examine the Turkish side of the issue. The result, therefore, is simply the most recent one-sided restatement of the Armenian accusations of genocide at the hands of the Turks during and after World War I without looking at the overall context of what actually happened.
Throughout his book, Peterson attempts to document his case with only Armenian or pro-Armenian sources and totally neglects contrary evidence, even from Armenians themselves. Some of his sources are reputable, but others are biased or outright forgeries. His citing of the so-called Talaat Pasha telegrams or Andonian documents as "evidence" of premeditated Turkish genocide is a good example. Although the "original" telegrams have long since conveniently disappeared, Peterson considers them genuine and does not even bother to mention scholarly work by Sinasi Orel and Sureyya Yuca (The Talat Pasha Telegrams: Historical Fact or...