Anne Elizabeth Elbrecht

California State University, Sacramento

A Study of Contemporaneous News Accounts about the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and Its Aftermath

Telling the Story

Jeni Enjaian

I requested this book, recently published, because the premise (and much of the format) is very similar to my own Master's Thesis.

While I appreciated seeing the style and reading some of the insights the author made based on the information, the book itself was not that great. Elbrecht could have done a better job at connecting the coverage of the New York Times and the Missionary Herald. The only connection in the book was based on the time period and a few other brief references. Because Elbrecht did not connect the coverage of the two papers, the switching back and forth made for a disjointed read.

It also seemed very dry, almost like a time line of events. (The events themselves were certainly not dry, though that was the only emotion in the telling.) The book could have been much more compelling if the author had given a purpose for why she told to story, or at least attempted to prove the point she mentioned briefly in the introduction and conclusion.

I am glad that more academic work is being done on the topic though and hope that more people will read this book and use it as a starting point for further and better research, writing and publication.

Telling the Story A Study of Contemporaneous News Accounts about the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and Its Aftermath

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