Name: Ambassador Morgenthau's Story
ISBN: 9780814329795

Robert Jay Lifton

Peter Balakian

Henry Morgenthau

This edition brings back into print the classic memoir by the American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire who not only documented but also tried to stop the genocide of the Armenian people.

Ambassador Morgenthau's Story

Originally published in 1918, this book is one of the most insightful and compelling accounts of what became a recurring horror during the 20th century: ethnic cleansing and genocide. While he served as the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire under Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1916, Henry Morgenthau witnessed the rise of a new nationalism in Turkey, one that declared "Turkey for the Turks." He grew alarmed as he received reports from missionaries and consuls in the interior of Turkey that described deportation and massacre of the Armenians. The ambassador beseeched the U.S. government to intervene, but it refrained, leaving Morgenthau without official leverage. His recourse was to appeal personally to the consciences of Ottoman rulers and their German allies; when that failed, he drew international media attention to the genocide and spearheaded private relief efforts.--Publisher.

Jeni Enjaian

I read an edition full of transcription errors which was a bit distracting but otherwise readable. This book was chock full of valuable resources for a historian like myself interested in the Armenian Genocide and the lead up to the war from the perspective of the "neutral" American ambassador. I highly recommend a book like this for anyone interested in finding out more about the first world war and the tragedy of the Armenian Genocide.