The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times

RICHARD G. HOVANNISIAN is the Holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA. He is the author of Armenia on the Road to Independence (1967) and The Republic of Armenia, 4 volumes (1971-1996), and he has edited three volumes on the Armenian genocide. A Guggenheim Fellow, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia in 1991 and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Erevan State University, Armenia.

Edited by the leading historian of the Republic of Armenia, this is the definitive history of an extraordinary country - from its earliest foundations, through the Crusades, the resistance to Ottoman and Tsarist rule, the collapse of the independent state, its brief re-emergence after World War I, its subjugation by the Bolsheviks, and the establishment of the new Republic in 1991. Written by the foremost experts on each period in Armenia's history, this book is a major contribution to understanding the complexities of Transcaucasia. Armenia is a cradle of civilization situated on one of the world's most turbulent crossroads. This volume examines the question of Armenian origins and traces domestic and international relations, society and culture through the five dynastic periods, spanning nearly two thousand years. The challenge facing the Armenian people was to maintain as much freedom as possible under the shadow of powerful neighbouring empires. The adoption of Christianity had a permanent impact on the course of Armenian history and culture. These were the heroic, colourful and harsh feudal centuries of Armenia.

Introduction; R.Hovannisian The Geography of Armenia; R.Hewsen The Formation of the Armenian People; J.Russell The Emergence of Armenia; N.Garsoian The Arshakuni Dynasty; N.Garsoian The Marzpanate; N.Garsoian The Arab Invasions and the Rise of the Bagratuni; N.Garsoian The Independent Kingdoms of Medieval Armenia; N.Garsoian The Byzantine Annexation of the Armenian Kingdoms of the Eleventh-Century; N.Garsoian Armenian Literary Culture through the Eleventh-Century; R.Thomson Armenia During the Seljuk and Mongol Periods; R.Bedrosian Cilician Armenia; A.A.Bournoutian Medieval Armenian Literary and Cultural Trends (Twelfth - Seveteenth-Centuries); P.Crowe