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Richard G. Hovannisian , ed. Armenian Smyrna/Izmir: The Aegean Communities. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2012. xxi + 301 pages, maps, illustrations, contributors, footnotes, index. Paper US$35.00 ISBN 978-1-5685-9158-2.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2016

Dawn Cutler*
Affiliation:
Virginia Tech
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Abstract

Type
Briefly Noted
Copyright
Copyright © Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc. 2016 

Armenian Smyrna/Izmir is a collection of fourteen papers about the city of Smyrna/Izmir, located in current-day Turkey. These papers come from the “Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces” series of international conferences that have been held since 1997. The book strives to contribute to a more robust history of the city, offering perspective on the city and its people through historical, economic, social, and cultural lenses. The editor has preserved the integrity of these papers, enriching the text with the addition of relevant photographs at the end of each section. The authors explore different aspects of the city, using journals, photographs, and recent oral histories to provide context in demonstrating the city's significance during the height of its power in the 1840s and the influence of the city and its expatriates on Armenia today. The book begins with two chapters on the general history of Smyrna, followed by chapters on specific topics such as American missionary publishing and Armenian “Enlightener-Translators,” and ends with an analysis of the lives and societal influence of Smyrnean Armenians in Argentina, a country with large Armenian communities. The authors and the editor have identified a void of Smyrna/Izmir studies in Western languages that this book is a valuable first step towards filling.