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A review by olya_hakob
Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War by Thomas de Waal
Edit: I stopped trusting this guy after his blatant ignorance in the second Karabakh war. His false equivalency and the failure to report and highlight many crimes being committed by Azerbaijan long after the war are deal-breakers for me.
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I think this book is a very useful tool for the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan (and anyone else interested) who are trying to find out the truth behind national myths and political propaganda. While I cannot assess the accuracy of every bit in the book, I felt that the author is genuinely trying to be objective. As an Armenian I have indeed barely heard about the hardships that displaced Azerbaijani people have faced, and the book revealed some uncomfortable and inconvenient points to me. I bet an open minded Azerbaijani would have the same emotional roller coaster when learning about Armenian history. In any case, the book is a good start for navigating this complex topic. I hope that our nations will ultimately find an acceptable solution and not engage in the inhumane activities of war. I am not a naive pacifist and know that in the current climate Armenia needs a strong army but I truly hope that our respective governments will have the wisdom not to gamble on the lives of young soldiers. War is always a human tragedy no matter what. Hopefully we will see the day when this nightmare ends.
PS: the fact that both Armenians and Azerbaijanis find the book biased is a good sign. Personally, my goal was to have my views challenged and the book provided the desired alternative viewpoint. Otherwise, it's always advised to take things with a grain of salt. Three stars because of the style which was a bit repetitive at times.
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I think this book is a very useful tool for the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan (and anyone else interested) who are trying to find out the truth behind national myths and political propaganda. While I cannot assess the accuracy of every bit in the book, I felt that the author is genuinely trying to be objective. As an Armenian I have indeed barely heard about the hardships that displaced Azerbaijani people have faced, and the book revealed some uncomfortable and inconvenient points to me. I bet an open minded Azerbaijani would have the same emotional roller coaster when learning about Armenian history. In any case, the book is a good start for navigating this complex topic. I hope that our nations will ultimately find an acceptable solution and not engage in the inhumane activities of war. I am not a naive pacifist and know that in the current climate Armenia needs a strong army but I truly hope that our respective governments will have the wisdom not to gamble on the lives of young soldiers. War is always a human tragedy no matter what. Hopefully we will see the day when this nightmare ends.
PS: the fact that both Armenians and Azerbaijanis find the book biased is a good sign. Personally, my goal was to have my views challenged and the book provided the desired alternative viewpoint. Otherwise, it's always advised to take things with a grain of salt. Three stars because of the style which was a bit repetitive at times.