TURKISH FORUM BOOKS
New York – Renowned historian and author George Bournoutian’s A Concise History of the Armenian People, originally commissioned by the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), has just been published in Turkish by Aras Publishers in Istanbul.
The book, which was translated by an Armenian and a Turk, and contains 464 pages of text, several maps, photos, and time tables, made its debut at the annual Istanbul International Book Fair (November 18-December 1). This was the first time that an Armenian publishing house participated in the fair.
A Concise History, the first of its kind in English, was commissioned by AGBU in 1993-1994. More recently, AGBU Buenos Aires published the Spanish version of the book, and AGBU Cairo will publish the Arabic version in the first quarter of 2012. With over 20,000 copies in five different editions sold, a sixth updated edition will go to press shortly. The book has been adopted as the main text at a number of colleges, universities and high schools teaching Armenian history.
Originally published in two volumes as A History of the Armenian People, this much-praised book, which was the first history of the Armenians from ancient times to the early 1990’s, was printed three times before going out of print. That circumstance, plus recognition of the increasing political importance of the region at the time, necessitated a fourth revised and updated edition, renamed A Concise History of the Armenian People, in which the two volumes were combined into one, with considerable extra information. Examining the history of the Armenians in relation to the rest of the world, the book’s main purpose is to familiarize Armenians and non-Armenians alike with a people whose history and culture is absent from most history courses and texts.
Beginning in November, AGBU launched a tour of Bournoutian’s newest publication, The 1823 Russian Survey of the Karabagh Province: A Primary Source on the Demography and Economy of Karabagh in the Early 19th Century, which proves that Armenians formed the overwhelming 95% majority of the populations inhabiting the Nagorno-Karabakh territory and the villages of Zangezur in 1822. Scores of enthusiastic attendees came to hear Bournoutian speak in Detroit, Montreal, New York and Toronto. Several other US and international cities are lined up for 2012.
Dr. George Bournoutian is a professor of Eastern European and Middle Eastern History at Iona College, as well as a recipient of the IREX, NDEA, and Mellow Fellowships. He has taught Armenian and Iranian history at UCLA and Columbia University. Moreover, he organized and taught the first Armenian history courses at University of Connecticut, Glendale Community College, New York University, Ramapo College, Rutgers University and Tufts University. Bournoutian is also the author of more than a dozen other volumes consisting of annotated English translations of primary sources in Armenian, Russian, and Persian, with introductions, glossaries and indexes.
A Concise History of the Armenian People is available from Aras Publishers web site at a discount of 25%.
Established in 1906, AGBU (www.agbu.org) is the world’s largest non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.
via Armenian Reporter:.
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