Armenia, conquered by many, was until 1991 part of the Soviet Union. Its turbulent history includes the 1915 Armenian Genocide, the devastating 1988 earthquake, and its uneasy, sometimes hostile, relations with neighbors Turkey and Azerbaijan. This title follows the established format for the Historical Dictionaries series. Along with a new preface, it includes the one from the 2002 edition (CH, Apr'03, 40-4363). The book explains the transliteration used and provides a list of acronyms/abbreviations, a 68-page introduction, and a chronology (ca. 1500 BCE to October 2009, with emphasis on the later years). A few photographs are a recent addition to the series. Dictionary entries, varied in length and broad in scope, include prominent individuals living outside the country. An extensive bibliography of English and non-English sources is divided by topic and features a list of Web sites....Adalian (director, Armenian National Institute) has published other works and has completed a project on the Armenian Genocide for the US National Archives. This is a useful one-step source for university and college libraries. Summing Up: Recommended.
Almost one-third longer than the first edition, published in 2002, this volume in the Scarecrow Historical Dictionaries of Europe series follows the same format as other titles in the series. The work begins with a chronology, followed by a lengthy and very informative introductory essay on the history of this ancient, landlocked country. Entries range in length from a paragraph to several pages and provide an eclectic mix of information on religion, foreign policy, the Armenian diaspora, prominent individuals, and the Armenian genocide, to name just a few topics. There is a lengthy but unannotated bibliography organized by subject and subtopic. The author is a widely published academic expert, so readers can be confident about the authoritativeness of the work. Although there is no indication of how many entries are new or revised, the preface notes that although preparation of the first edition was hampered by a lack of information, the explosion of resources available on the Internet has created “the opposite problem of too much information, even for so small a country.” The bibliography as well as many of the entries reflect this change, making this title worth considering even for libraries that own the first edition.
Armenia, conquered by many, was until 1991 part of the Soviet Union. Its turbulent history includes the 1915 Armenian Genocide, the devastating 1988 earthquake, and its uneasy, sometimes hostile, relations with neighbors Turkey and Azerbaijan. This title follows the established format for the Historical Dictionaries series. Along with a new preface, it includes the one from the 2002 edition (CH, Apr'03, 40-4363). The book explains the transliteration used and provides a list of acronyms/abbreviations, a 68-page introduction, and a chronology (ca. 1500 BCE to October 2009, with emphasis on the later years). A few photographs are a recent addition to the series. Dictionary entries, varied in length and broad in scope, include prominent individuals living outside the country. An extensive bibliography of English and non-English sources is divided by topic and features a list of Web sites....Adalian (director, Armenian National Institute) has published other works and has completed a project on the Armenian Genocide for the US National Archives. This is a useful one-step source for university and college libraries. Summing Up: Recommended.
Armenia, conquered by many, was until 1991 part of the Soviet Union. Its turbulent history includes the 1915 Armenian Genocide, the devastating 1988 earthquake, and its uneasy, sometimes hostile, relations with neighbors Turkey and Azerbaijan. This title follows the established format for the Historical Dictionaries series. Along with a new preface, it includes the one from the 2002 edition (CH, Apr'03, 40-4363). The book explains the transliteration used and provides a list of acronyms/abbreviations, a 68-page introduction, and a chronology (ca. 1500 BCE to October 2009, with emphasis on the later years). A few photographs are a recent addition to the series. Dictionary entries, varied in length and broad in scope, include prominent individuals living outside the country. An extensive bibliography of English and non-English sources is divided by topic and features a list of Web sites....Adalian (director, Armenian National Institute) has published other works and has completed a project on the Armenian Genocide for the US National Archives. This is a useful one-step source for university and college libraries. Summing Up: Recommended.--CHOICE Almost one-third longer than the first edition, published in 2002, this volume in the Scarecrow Historical Dictionaries of Europe series follows the same format as other titles in the series. The work begins with a chronology, followed by a lengthy and very informative introductory essay on the history of this ancient, landlocked country. Entries range in length from a paragraph to several pages and provide an eclectic mix of information on religion, foreign policy, the Armenian diaspora, prominent individuals, and the Armenian genocide, to name just a few topics. There is a lengthy but unannotated bibliography organized by subject and subtopic. The author is a widely published academic expert, so readers can be confident about the authoritativeness of the work. Although there is no indication of how many entries are new or revised, the preface notes that although preparation of the first edition was hampered by a lack of information, the explosion of resources available on the Internet has created "the opposite problem of too much information, even for so small a country." The bibliography as well as many of the entries reflect this change, making this title worth considering even for libraries that own the first edition.-- (02/15/2011)
Armenia, conquered by many, was until 1991 part of the Soviet Union. Its turbulent history includes the 1915 Armenian Genocide, the devastating 1988 earthquake, and its uneasy, sometimes hostile, relations with neighbors Turkey and Azerbaijan. This title follows the established format for the Historical Dictionaries series. Along with a new preface, it includes the one from the 2002 edition (CH, Apr'03, 40-4363). The book explains the transliteration used and provides a list of acronyms/abbreviations, a 68-page introduction, and a chronology (ca. 1500 BCE to October 2009, with emphasis on the later years). A few photographs are a recent addition to the series. Dictionary entries, varied in length and broad in scope, include prominent individuals living outside the country. An extensive bibliography of English and non-English sources is divided by topic and features a list of Web sites....Adalian (director, Armenian National Institute) has published other works and has completed a project on the Armenian Genocide for the US National Archives. This is a useful one-step source for university and college libraries. Summing Up: Recommended.
Almost one-third longer than the first edition, published in 2002, this volume in the Scarecrow Historical Dictionaries of Europe series follows the same format as other titles in the series. The work begins with a chronology, followed by a lengthy and very informative introductory essay on the history of this ancient, landlocked country. Entries range in length from a paragraph to several pages and provide an eclectic mix of information on religion, foreign policy, the Armenian diaspora, prominent individuals, and the Armenian genocide, to name just a few topics. There is a lengthy but unannotated bibliography organized by subject and subtopic. The author is a widely published academic expert, so readers can be confident about the authoritativeness of the work. Although there is no indication of how many entries are new or revised, the preface notes that although preparation of the first edition was hampered by a lack of information, the explosion of resources available on the Internet has created “the opposite problem of too much information, even for so small a country.” The bibliography as well as many of the entries reflect this change, making this title worth considering even for libraries that own the first edition.
To attempt to pack as much information as possible in so limited a space must have been an enormous challenge and Dr. Adalian is to be congratulated for having achieved the balance that he has. The articles in the volume are marvels of concision and are filled with data difficult to find in any other place at one time. Lists of the cabinets of each government of the present Armenian Republic are especially valuable as are the numerous other articles relevant to the situation of the Armenians in the modern world, those relevant to various Armenian organizations, and those that contain biographies of notable Armenians not to be found anywhere else in English....It should be mentioned that the book is beautifully written and handsomely produced. Altogether, it is an excellent handbook of Armenian studies. It should be in every library and would be a useful reference for any Armenian home.
Journal Of The Society For Armenian Studies
The volume is highly successful in providing us with a broad and reliable socio-historical background to the politically still quite unsettled and economically devastated present day Armenia, which reemerged as an independent state only recently...The Historical Dictionary of Armenia should not fail to find a spot on the shelves of every college and public library in the English-speaking world as well as in the bookcases of every home where interest in the Near-Eastern roots of Western civilization continues to be cultivated.
Middle East Studies Association Bulletin
...contains every significant entry dealing with Armenia or the Armenians...very easy to use....Every government official in the US and the UN can refer to it for concise entries on important matters concerning Armenia. Editors of every American and European, as well as Diaspora Armenian, publication can now have an incomparable reference tool at their disposal. Adalian has produced a unique and magnificent volume. This is a valuable handbook which belongs in every office, library, and in every serious Armenian household.
The Armenian Reporter International