Cross and the Crescent

A book that chronicles the trial of Soghomon Tehlirian, a young Armenian patriot who gunned down a former Turkish prime minister on a Berlin sidewalk in 1921. Tehlirian claimed that he had "executed" (not murdered) his victim in reprisal for the latter's role in the extermination of some 1.5 million Armenians in 1915-16. The validity of his claim was established when the German court set him free; however, despite his acquittal & subsequent outcries regarding the Armenian massacres, Turkey has to this day never acknowledged that such a holocaust ever occurred. Admittedly determined to bring the Turks to account on this score, Armenian American author Avakian uses Soghomon's eyes & voice to tell the whole terrible story of the twentieth century's first genocide. His bias not withstanding, however, Avakian has produced an excellent--& accurate--historical document on the virtual annihilation of his people. Index.--Steve Weingartner, BOOKLIST, 9-1-89.Avakian, Lindy V. is the author of 'Cross and the Crescent' with ISBN 9780943247069 and ISBN 0943247063.