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Reviews

“Mirak-Weissbach, born in the United States but the daughter of two Armenian refugees whose parents were killed during the genocide perpetrated by the Young Turks, wished to honor this person who defended her people and, in writing the volume, also gave a precious historical testimony on the lacerating ambiguity that accompanies tragic events such as wars, when heroism and cowardice, moral rigor and cowardly betrayal are mixed in intrigues in which distinguishing the wheat from the chaff is sometimes very difficult if not impossible.” • Frontiere Rivista Di Geocultura

“This is a very valid inquiry into a multifaceted, fascinating German general during a late-Ottoman era of extremes… Based on primary sources, the author succeeds in giving a sober, but poignant portrait of a man of “honor” in times of disregard for human dignity.” • Hans-Lukas Kieser, University of Newcastle, Australia

“The author frames her story as an effort to salvage the reputation of this remarkable person, which she does. Her account of his repeated refusals to obey deportation orders from the Young Turk regime is well-documented, gripping, and fast-paced; the behind-the-scenes drama of his imprisonment on Malta appears here for the first time. A book devoted to Liman von Sanders and his “honor” is ideal to assign in upper-level classrooms, for it provokes the question: What would it take to stop genocide?” • Margaret Lavinia Anderson, University of California Berkeley

Description

The legacy of the German general, Otto Liman von Sanders, remains highly contested in the history of twentieth-century Europe and the Middle East. Noted for leading the 5^th Ottoman army’s successful defence of the Dardanelles and Gallipoli in 1915, his role in opposing the Young Turks’ genocide policy and safeguarding Greeks, Armenians, and Jews is overshadowed by his imprisonment for war crimes in 1919. In this enlightening reassessment of Liman von Sanders’ life, Muriel Mirak-Weissbach uses previously-unpublished archival materials to uncover new dimensions to this story and, in doing so, explores wider ethical questions concerning the role of the individual in global crises, the nature of morality in military conflict, and the limitations of justice.

Subject: History: 20th Century to PresentGenocide HistoryPeace and Conflict Studies

Area: Central/Eastern EuropeMiddle East & Israel

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