Reforging a Forgotten History: Iraq and the Assyrians in the Twentieth Century Hardcover - 2015

From the rear cover

'Sargon Donabed provides a comprehensive overview of the modern Assyrian story, merging emic and etic perspectives of their struggle to attain sovereignty over the past century and beyond. His work offers both an informative source for Assyrian ethnic history and an alternative reading for Mesopotamian regional history as a whole.' Nabil Al-Tikriti, University of Mary Washington 'In telling the story of modern Assyrian responses to a history of tragedy, Sargon Donabed helps us understand them as actors in their own right. He thereby rewrites Iraqi history from the perspective of the oppressed. No longer may we ignore the plight of this misunderstood minority.' Paul S. Rowe, Trinity Western University Who are the Assyrians and what role did they play in shaping modern Iraq? Were they simply bystanders, victims of collateral damage who played a passive role in its history? Furthermore, how have they negotiated their position throughout various periods of Iraq's state-building processes? This book details a narrative of Iraq in the twentieth century and refashions the Assyrian experience as an integral part of Iraq's broader contemporary historiography. It is the first comprehensive account to contextualize a native experience alongside the emerging state. Using primary and secondary data, this book offers a nuanced exploration of the dynamics that have affected and determined the trajectory of the Assyrians' experience in twentieth-century Iraq. Key Features - Includes oral history and ethnographic research on the Assyrians - Presents comprehensive and in-depth data pertaining to Iraqi Assyrian villages as well ancient churches, monasteries, schools and other material culture edifices - Utilises Assyrian-Aramaic/Syriac as well as Arabic primary sources to illuminate and corroborate the Assyrian narrative of Iraqi history Sargon George Donabed is Associate Professor of History at the Department of History and American Studies at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island.