Smyrna, September 1922: The American Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's First Genocide

Review “Ureneck’s narrative is intense and vivid.” — Philadelphia Inquirer “The Great Fire reads like a fast-paced thriller replete with vivid profiles of heroes, villains and ordinary people caught up in ethnic and religious violence.” — Associated Press “This is a comprehensive yet intimate work of scholarship, reminding readers of a horrific moment in modern history now largely forgotten.” — Weekly Standard “The Great Fire reads like a fast-paced thriller replete with vivid profiles of heroes, villains and ordinary people caught up in ethnic and religious violence.” — ABC News “The Great Fire reads like a fast-paced thriller replete with vivid profiles of heroes, villains and ordinary people caught up in ethnic and religious violence.” — The Post and Courier “[The Great Fire] is highly readable and paints a portrait of a pivotal period in world history.” — The Register Herald Praise for Backcast: “This book is a rarity: humble in its beauty, elegant in its reflection.” — Anchorage Daily News From the Back Cover With a foreword by James Russell, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University A bribe, a lie, and an empty threat—these were the tools Reverend Asa K. Jennings, a minister from upstate New York, used to rescue hundreds of thousands of helpless refugees following the 1922 burning and rape of Smyrna, the richest city of the Ottoman Empire, by the Turkish troops of Mustapha Kemal, known today as Ataturk. Smyrna, September 1922 tells the harrowing and inspiring story of Jennings and a strong-willed naval officer, Lt. Commander Halsey Powell, who together orchestrated one of the century’s greatest humanitarian missions. Drawing extensively from survivors’ stories, fresh primary sources, and years of research, Lou Ureneck paints an unforgettable portrait of the fire at Smyrna—the symbolic end of five hundred years of Ottoman rule and the final act in a ten-year religious slaughter. His gripping narrative reveals forces that would define the rest of the century: virulent nationalism, trading oil for national principles, and conflict and misunderstanding between the Christian West and Moslem East. Previously published as The Great Fire About the Author Lou Ureneck, a former Nieman fellow and editor-in-residence at Harvard University, is a professor of journalism at Boston University. Ureneck is the author of Backcast , which won the National Outdoor Book Award for literary merit, and Cabin: Two Brothers, a Dream, and Five Acres in Maine. Read more