What do you think?
Rate this book
History of Armenia: A Captivating Guide to Armenian History, Starting from Ancient Armenia to Its Declaration of Sovereignty from the Soviet Union
If you want to discover the captivating history of Armenia, then keep reading... Free History BONUS Inside! The tale of Armenia has its beginnings as a glorious ancient kingdom, one that commanded the respect of nations as mighty as Egypt and Babylonia. As its history takes a turn for the darker, each chapter reads like a roll call of the most famous of Antony and Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Frederick Barbarossa. Armenia saw ancient Rome rise to power; it knew Egyptian pharaohs, the Golden Horde, the Soviet Union, and saw the first invasion of the first Muslim army. For a long and ugly part of its history, Armenia struggled under the yokes of one empire after the Roman, Parthian, Persian, Byzantine, Timurid, Mongolian, and Ottoman Empires, to name just a few. Yet through it all, Armenia, time and time again, emerged as a nation with a powerful identity, one that caused much grief over the years, but one that still remains a pillar of strength to its people in good times and in bad. There is much sorrow held within these pages; much oppression, much persecution, and even the most terrible evil of them all—genocide. The reading is made easy by one single gleaming light, a golden thread running through every word and chapter, and that light is the Armenian people themselves. Their story is tragic, but their survival is incredible. And that is what makes their tale so inspiring. In History of A Captivating Guide to Armenian History, Starting from Ancient Armenia to Its Declaration of Sovereignty from the Soviet Union, you will discover topics such as The Home of EdenThe Rise and Fall of UrartuA Conquered ArmeniaAn Empire in its Own RightCaught in the CrossfireIlluminationImmortals and War ElephantsAn Armenian EmperorCrusader StateConqueredThe First DeportationGenocideFreedom at LastA Study in VelvetAnd much, much more!So if you want to learn more about the History of Armenia, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!
118 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 15, 2019
97 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 12, 2022
Resilience, thy name is truly Armenia
A concise yet well-researched historical account of Armenia and its rich civilization. The book starts with the disclaimer, “There is much sorrow held within these pages; much oppression, much persecution, and even the most terrible evil of them all — genocide.” True to the words, the forthcoming pages are soaked in blood and tears.
Ever since the ancient Biblical times, Armenia is renowned for being the final resting place of the Ark. From the times of the ancient Kingdom of Urartu to the modern-day Republic, Armenia has seen the rise and fall of many great leaders, such as Hayk, Artaxias, Tigranes, Tiridates, and Levon. A land of beauty of wonders, a land rich in faith and culture, Armenia earned its befitting praise from Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III, who wrote, “Heaven rests upon its four pillars.” It was fascinating to learn that at its height, Armenia encompassed parts of modern-day Israel, Turkey, and Iran.
One of the cradles of early Christianity, it became the first nation to officially adopt Christianity as its state religion in 301 AD. It was riveting to read the story of how St. Gregory the Illuminator stood up to King Tiridates III in defense of his faith and got imprisoned, only to be released and make the king embrace Christianity. In the years to come, Saint Mesrop invented the Armenian alphabet and translated the Bible, ushering in the Golden Age of Armenia. Also, it is important to note that the failure of the Armenians to show up at the Council of Chalcedon due to an erstwhile war culminated in the schism between the Eastern and the Oriental Orthodox Churches.
The glorious land, which witnessed historical figures like Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew, Antony and Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, Hadrian, and Frederick Barbarossa, eventually became a pawn in the game of thrones of a myriad empires and suffered persecution under invading Arab, Mongol, and Ottoman armies as well as tyrants like Genghis Khan, Timur, and Shah Abbas.
Throughout history, Armenia has been caught in the crossfire between empires and states like the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire, the former and the Arab Caliphate, the Safavid Empire and Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey and the Soviet Union.
The book also touches upon one of the greatest tragedies in history — the Armenian Genocide, where three quarters of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were annihilated. The ensuing Soviet annexation of Armenia came as yet another blow to the people.
What’s most inspiring is that despite all the invasions and massacres, the Armenians have steadfastly held on to their faith while retaining their ancient language and culture. As the author rightfully says, “Their story is tragic, but their survival is incredible. And that is what makes their tale so inspiring.”
A concise yet well-researched historical account of Armenia and its rich civilization. The book starts with the disclaimer, “There is much sorrow held within these pages; much oppression, much persecution, and even the most terrible evil of them all — genocide.” True to the words, the forthcoming pages are soaked in blood and tears.
Ever since the ancient Biblical times, Armenia is renowned for being the final resting place of the Ark. From the times of the ancient Kingdom of Urartu to the modern-day Republic, Armenia has seen the rise and fall of many great leaders, such as Hayk, Artaxias, Tigranes, Tiridates, and Levon. A land of beauty of wonders, a land rich in faith and culture, Armenia earned its befitting praise from Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III, who wrote, “Heaven rests upon its four pillars.” It was fascinating to learn that at its height, Armenia encompassed parts of modern-day Israel, Turkey, and Iran.
One of the cradles of early Christianity, it became the first nation to officially adopt Christianity as its state religion in 301 AD. It was riveting to read the story of how St. Gregory the Illuminator stood up to King Tiridates III in defense of his faith and got imprisoned, only to be released and make the king embrace Christianity. In the years to come, Saint Mesrop invented the Armenian alphabet and translated the Bible, ushering in the Golden Age of Armenia. Also, it is important to note that the failure of the Armenians to show up at the Council of Chalcedon due to an erstwhile war culminated in the schism between the Eastern and the Oriental Orthodox Churches.
The glorious land, which witnessed historical figures like Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew, Antony and Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, Hadrian, and Frederick Barbarossa, eventually became a pawn in the game of thrones of a myriad empires and suffered persecution under invading Arab, Mongol, and Ottoman armies as well as tyrants like Genghis Khan, Timur, and Shah Abbas.
Throughout history, Armenia has been caught in the crossfire between empires and states like the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire, the former and the Arab Caliphate, the Safavid Empire and Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Turkey and the Soviet Union.
The book also touches upon one of the greatest tragedies in history — the Armenian Genocide, where three quarters of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were annihilated. The ensuing Soviet annexation of Armenia came as yet another blow to the people.
What’s most inspiring is that despite all the invasions and massacres, the Armenians have steadfastly held on to their faith while retaining their ancient language and culture. As the author rightfully says, “Their story is tragic, but their survival is incredible. And that is what makes their tale so inspiring.”
June 4, 2023
I read this over a day of travel on my way to visit Armenia for the first time. It is very easy to read and is perfect if you want to familiarise yourself with the history of the country at a very basic level. At points it did feel sensationalised and I found myself wanting to see footnotes. If you're looking for detail or nuance then you may want to look elsewhere, but worth reading if you just want an easily digestible narrative that tells 'a' story of Armenia, I emphasise 'a' story as the author does not offer any counter arguments to the presented narrative/assessment of each historical episode.
December 22, 2020
A short summary for Armenia’s history, I would recommend for people who don’t remember much about it or want to familiarize with it. For myself, it was a bit boring, because most of the things I remembered and it was more “dry” history book than a fascinating one. That one is on me, it is super hard to find a book where it speaks about history in an interesting way.
December 7, 2021
Reasonably good, but it's supposed to be a history book. Over sensationalized at times, so it reads like a propaganda exercise or just as plain bad journalism.
The Armenian Genocide clearly happened and I wonder when Turkey will be mature enough as a country to accept responsibility? The world is waiting!
The Armenian Genocide clearly happened and I wonder when Turkey will be mature enough as a country to accept responsibility? The world is waiting!
November 20, 2019
Armenia is one of the oldest homes of the human race. According to the Bible, Armenia may have been the home of the Garden of Eden. The capital of Armenia is near Mourn Ararat, and according to the Bible, Noah's Ark was beached there after the floods. Thus, the Armenians may have two reasons for thinking they are the cradle of civilization.
This is not an easy book to read because of the horrors these people have endured. They sit at the crossroads of the Middle East and the conflict between greater powers has left them decimated. Other empires used them as a buffer (between themselves and other powerful groups) and used their lands as a war zone.
Thank you to the author for explaining why the war elephants were so frightening. Lots of ancient history books mention them but not WHY they were so awe-inspiring. This book gives a great description; no wonder everyone was so terrified of the animals and their prowess.
Books mention that Armenia is/was rich in natural resources. Looking at photos of the mountainous country, it is hard to imagine what they have in abundance (other than hills and steppes). Googling, I found that Armenia is rich in copper ore, gold, rolled tobacco, hard liquor, oil, gas, shale, peat, iron, zinc, aluminum, lead, silver, and diamonds. Now, I understand why other empires have wanted their wealth.
One sentence from this book describes the Armenians wonderfully well: "Despite the fact that Armenia had not been independent for centuries, its people still had a ferocious independence when it came to their beliefs, and they would not be dictated to when it came to that." (page 62)
Having read other info about the Armenians, I wondered why they had spread out from their original homeland. This book explains this question of the Armenian diaspora well.
One thing this book did not explain was why Tamerlane decimated the Armenians. This book does say that Tamerlane murdered 20 million people. Researching the question: Tamerlane killed for personal glory, loot and 'the dark joy that wicked men absorb from inflicting pain on others. He was the worst of the least recognized psychopaths in history.'
The section on the Armenian genocide was even harder reading. It is hard to imagine that as recently as 1894 - 1896, 300,000 Armenians could be murdered and there was no one to complain or seek justice for the murdered. During the Turkification of Turkey, the Turks had a deep mistrust of their ethnic minorities and decided to eradicate them. During WWI, the Ottomans fought the Allied powers and their own Armenians at the same time.
The Velvet Revolution is an amazing story. It is the bloodless story of how the tiny republic of Armenia rid itself of corrupt prime ministers and presidents without firing a shot. This whole book is the story of a group of people suffering for 3000 years. If you are wondering why no one talks of the Armenian genocide (yet we hear of the Holocaust regularly), it is because of the difference in the countries involved. Germany admits to the Holocaust while Turkey ignores or denies it occurred.
This is not an easy book to read because of the horrors these people have endured. They sit at the crossroads of the Middle East and the conflict between greater powers has left them decimated. Other empires used them as a buffer (between themselves and other powerful groups) and used their lands as a war zone.
Thank you to the author for explaining why the war elephants were so frightening. Lots of ancient history books mention them but not WHY they were so awe-inspiring. This book gives a great description; no wonder everyone was so terrified of the animals and their prowess.
Books mention that Armenia is/was rich in natural resources. Looking at photos of the mountainous country, it is hard to imagine what they have in abundance (other than hills and steppes). Googling, I found that Armenia is rich in copper ore, gold, rolled tobacco, hard liquor, oil, gas, shale, peat, iron, zinc, aluminum, lead, silver, and diamonds. Now, I understand why other empires have wanted their wealth.
One sentence from this book describes the Armenians wonderfully well: "Despite the fact that Armenia had not been independent for centuries, its people still had a ferocious independence when it came to their beliefs, and they would not be dictated to when it came to that." (page 62)
Having read other info about the Armenians, I wondered why they had spread out from their original homeland. This book explains this question of the Armenian diaspora well.
One thing this book did not explain was why Tamerlane decimated the Armenians. This book does say that Tamerlane murdered 20 million people. Researching the question: Tamerlane killed for personal glory, loot and 'the dark joy that wicked men absorb from inflicting pain on others. He was the worst of the least recognized psychopaths in history.'
The section on the Armenian genocide was even harder reading. It is hard to imagine that as recently as 1894 - 1896, 300,000 Armenians could be murdered and there was no one to complain or seek justice for the murdered. During the Turkification of Turkey, the Turks had a deep mistrust of their ethnic minorities and decided to eradicate them. During WWI, the Ottomans fought the Allied powers and their own Armenians at the same time.
The Velvet Revolution is an amazing story. It is the bloodless story of how the tiny republic of Armenia rid itself of corrupt prime ministers and presidents without firing a shot. This whole book is the story of a group of people suffering for 3000 years. If you are wondering why no one talks of the Armenian genocide (yet we hear of the Holocaust regularly), it is because of the difference in the countries involved. Germany admits to the Holocaust while Turkey ignores or denies it occurred.
October 2, 2023
It is certainly a nice, quick introduction to Armenia's history if you want to read something more than Wikipedia's entry. However, this is not a serious historical book (just check the bibliography: all based on internet texts).
Also, while it gives a fairly detailed account of the ancient times, the last 500 years are limited to a few hasty pages and there is virtually nothing about the twentieth century.
Add the language, that made me roll my eyes, "cool" informal register ("an Armenia still wet behind the ears from the birth of its independence.") and lyrical entries such as "The Araxes River was swollen and hot and angry, water plunging between its banks like a wild animal bent on breaking its bonds" and you may entertain the idea to learn about Armenia from some more responsible book.
Also, while it gives a fairly detailed account of the ancient times, the last 500 years are limited to a few hasty pages and there is virtually nothing about the twentieth century.
Add the language, that made me roll my eyes, "cool" informal register ("an Armenia still wet behind the ears from the birth of its independence.") and lyrical entries such as "The Araxes River was swollen and hot and angry, water plunging between its banks like a wild animal bent on breaking its bonds" and you may entertain the idea to learn about Armenia from some more responsible book.
May 6, 2022
This was a a good introduction to the overall history of Armenia as a country and region. However, the author uses unecessary biases especially in terms of who he thinks was a "better" or "worse" occupier of the land at any given time. I also thought the final chapter which discussed events as recent as 2018 to be completely unnecessary for the book especially given that the Soviet-era of Armenia was given a grand total of 3-4 paragraphs.
Read the book for a broad understanding of Armenia's history but take it all with a grain of salt.
Read the book for a broad understanding of Armenia's history but take it all with a grain of salt.
May 24, 2020
Very good but uneven.
As an Armenian myself I've read books about the Armenian genocide and how Turkey (as the Ottoman Empire) refused to acknowledge it. But despite abandoning the Kurdish people who are our allies at least the American government told the Turkey the Armenian genocide was real.
As an Armenian myself I've read books about the Armenian genocide and how Turkey (as the Ottoman Empire) refused to acknowledge it. But despite abandoning the Kurdish people who are our allies at least the American government told the Turkey the Armenian genocide was real.
May 17, 2023
Overall the book was just a brief overview of Armenian history. I noticed huge chunks of history left out, however if you’re looking for something to give you quick context on Armenian history then this book is good.
May 23, 2024
quick reads
I love this series of books for their quick overview of cultures and countries. In no way a deep drive, this book provides a quick view of the historical context of Armenia.
I love this series of books for their quick overview of cultures and countries. In no way a deep drive, this book provides a quick view of the historical context of Armenia.
April 29, 2020
Armenia, first Christian kingdom
Wonderful short history of a fascinating people that rebounded from a Holocaust of their own by the evil Muslim Turks.
Wonderful short history of a fascinating people that rebounded from a Holocaust of their own by the evil Muslim Turks.
July 1, 2020
Devastating
Very well written history of this small country which has suffered so much over many, many centuries. It’s astounding how the generations have survived so many wars.
Very well written history of this small country which has suffered so much over many, many centuries. It’s astounding how the generations have survived so many wars.
September 27, 2020
Fascinating
September 15, 2022
Even though it felt very fast pacing I enjoyed this book.
August 21, 2023
We’ll written and very interesting history of the Armenian people, who endured millennia of warring empires in their homeland - I never knew about the genocide of these people
December 12, 2019
Concise
It is a clear and concise narrative , it makes a lot more easy to understand their pain , their strength and their soul .
It is a clear and concise narrative , it makes a lot more easy to understand their pain , their strength and their soul .
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews