There is a great deal of interest in the history of Armenia since its renewed independence in the 1990s and the ongoing debate about the genocide - an interest that informs the strong desire of a new generation of Armenian Americans to learn more about their heritage and has led to greater solidarity in the community. By integrating themes such as war, geopolitics, and great leaders, with the less familiar cultural themes and personal stories, this book will appeal to general readers and travellers interested in the region.

The book is addressed to Armenians in all the world and to readers living in various countries who are interested in ancient history and culture of Biblical Armenia.

History of Armenia, from B. C. 2247 to the year of Christ 1780, or 1229 of the Armenian era is a translation of an abridged version of the three-volume history of Armenia, originally written in Armenian by Father Mik'ayel Ch'amch'yants' and published in Venice in 1784-86. Ch'amch'yants' was born in Istanbul in 1738, and in 1762 he became a member of the Armenian Catholic Mekhitarist order at the St. Lazar Monastery in Venice. Written in chronicle style and based on Armenian and non-Armenian primary source materials, this work by Ch'amch'yants' was the first critical examination of the history of the Armenian people. In 1811 Ch'amch'yants' produced an abridged version of the history, which Hovhannēs Avdaleantsʻ (Johannes Avdall) translated into English and which was published in Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) in 1827. The translation includes a dedication by Avdaleantsʻ to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, a preface by Avdaleantsʻ containing an overview of the history of Armenia and assessments of the most important Armenian historians, and a postscript containing a summary of events in Armenia from 1780 to 1827.

Dadrian, a former professor at SUNY, Geneseo, currently directs a genocide study project supported by the Guggenheim Foundation. The present study analyzes the devastating wartime destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire as the cataclysmic culmination of a historical process involving the progressive Turkish decimation of the Armenians through intermittent and incremental massacres. In addition to the excellent general bibliography there is an annotated bibliography of selected books used in the study. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The first part of the study discusses the origins of the Armenians, the Urartian Kingdom, Armenia and the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, Sasanid and Byzantine periods. It also examines Christinaity in Armenia and the development of an alphabet and literature. The work then continues with the history of Armenia during the Arab, Turkish and Mongol periods. A separate chapter deals with the history of Cilician Armenia and the Crusades. The second part concentrates on the Armenian communities in the Ottoman, Persian, Indian, and Russian empires (1500-1918). It also details the Armenian diaspora in Eastern and Western Europe, Africa, the Arab World, the Far East, and the Americas. The study concludes with lengthy chapters on the history of the three Armenian republics (1918-1920); (1921-1991Soviet Armenia); and the current Armenian republic (1991-2001)

The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Armenia relates the turbulent past of this persistent country through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 200 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, events, places, organizations, and other aspects of Armenian history from the earliest times to the present.