New History Books at the Library!

Here are some new books hitting the shelves soon at GPL:


Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades
by Phillips, Jonathan

A fresh, no-nonsense take on the causes, human cost and continued relevance of the medieval Crusades. A straightforward, pertinent study replete with passionate personages both Christian and Muslim. (Kirkus)







Rebel Land: Unraveling the Riddle of History in a Turkish Town
by de Bellaigue, Christopher

A brave investigation into the buried history of Armenian massacre and Kurdish violence in a small Turkish village. Conversant in Turkish and charmed by the cosmopolitan nature of the people, foreign correspondent de Bellaigue was posted to Istanbul for some years before he began to question the official Turkish story that the forced deportation and massacre of Armenians during World War I had been provoked by their rebelliousness and collusion with Russia. (Kirkus)



Strange Days Indeed: The 1970s: The Golden Days of Paranoia
by Wheen, Francis

The meat of Wheen's lucid discussion is what can be considered a golden age of the paranoid style of politics, as the historian Richard Hofstadter put it, and of widespread paranoia in general. Literate, authentic to period detail and often entertaining . . . (Kirkus)

Raphael Lemkin's Dossier on the Armenian Genocide

With Vartkes Yeghiayan and Professor Michael J. Bazyler

Thursday, January 22, 2009, 7 pm
Glendale Public Library Auditorium
222 East Harvard Street, Glendale
(818) 548-2042

This free lecture is sponsored by the Center For Armenian Remembrance and Temple Sinai of Glendale.

Raphael Lemkin, one of the most influential lawyers and human rights activists in the last century, coined the word "genocide," and in 1948 was instrumental in initiating the enactment of the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (the "Genocide Convention"), making genocide an international "crime of crimes." Learn how Lemkin searched for legal remedies to punish mass murderers and prevent future genocides.

Mr. Yeghiayan will also discuss his book, Vahan Cardashian: Advocate Extraordinaire for the Armenian Cause. Vahan Cardashian was a Yale-educated lawyer who set aside his successful New York practice to dedicate himself to the establishment of the American Committee for the Independence of Armenia (ACIA), the predecessor organization to the Armenian National Committee and advocate for the plight of the Armenian nation.

Vartkes Yeghiayan was one of the lead attorneys in the Genocide reparations case of Marootian v. NY Life, a case that resulted in a 20 million dollar settlement for descendants of the Armenian Genocide. Professor Bazyler is a leading authority on the use of American and European courts to redress genocide and other historical wrongs. He is the author of Holocaust Justice: The Battle for Restitution in America's Courts.

"Authors, Artists & Friends" Series

A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility

Taner Akcam is widely recognized as one of the first Turkish scholars to write extensively and authoritatively on the Turkish genocide of the Armenians in the early 20th century. He is giving a free lecture and book signing at the Pacific Park Branch Library, 501 South Pacific Avenue on Saturday, June 30, 7 pm.

In 1915, under the cover of a world war, some one million Armenians were killed through starvation, forced marches, forced exile, and mass acts of slaughter. Although Armenians and world opinion have held the Ottoman powers responsible, Turkey has consistently rejected any claim of intentional genocide.

The first scholar of any nationality to have mined the significant evidence in Turkish military and court records, parliamentary minutes, letters, and eyewitness accounts Akçam follows the chain of events leading up to the killing and then reconstructs its systematic orchestration by coordinated departments of the Ottoman state, the ruling political parties, and the military. He also probes the crucial question of how Turkey succeeded in evading responsibility, pointing to competing international interests in the region, the priorities of Turkish nationalists, and the international community's inadequate attempts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Sociologist and historian Taner Akcam teaches at the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota. Akcam grew up in Turkey, where he was imprisoned for editing a political publication and adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International in 1976. Akcam later received political asylum in Germany, where he earned a PhD from the University of Hannover and worked with the Hamburg Institute for Social Research on issues concerning the history of violence and torture in Turkey. He is the author of ten scholarly works of history and sociology, as well as numerous articles in Turkish, German, and English. His latest book, A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility can be checked out at the library.

RSVPs are highly recommended by calling 626.744.1177 ext 23 or online at www.facinghistory.org/losangeles

This lecture is presented by Facing History and Ourselves, and is cosponsored by the Glendale Public Library, Friends of the Glendale Public Library and Glendale Parks, Recreation and Community Services.

About Facing History and Ourselves
Facing History and Ourselves an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying the historical development and lessons of the Holocaust and other examples of collective violence and genocide, students make the essential connection between history and the moral choices they confront in their own lives. Facing History reaches 1.6 million students worldwide each year.

Visit their website