Product Description

On Saturday 9th September, 1922, the victorious Turkish cavalry rode into Smyrna, the richest and most cosmopolitan city in the Ottoman Empire. What happened over the next two weeks must rank as one of the most compelling human dramas of the twentieth century. Almost two million people were caught up in a disaster of truly epic proportions.

PARADISE LOST is told with the narrative verve that has made Giles Milton a bestselling historian. It unfolds through the memories of the survivors, many of them interviewed for the first time, and the eyewitness accounts of those who found themselves caught up in one of the greatest catastrophes of the modern age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17640 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Review
‘Giles Milton . . . has crafted an inspiration for those of us who believe that history can be exciting and entertaining’ (The Times )

'Giles Milton’s brilliant re-creation of the last days of Smyrna' (Sunday Times )

'Giles Milton's powerful narrative of the ensuing humanitarian catastrophe is compelling . . . incidents of heroism among the carnage, give this tale of ethnic cleansing a rare immediacy.' (Telegraph )

'Engrossing . . . Milton’s book celebrates the heroism of individuals who put lives before ideologies' (Independent )

'The sack of that famously cosmopolitan city . . . makes a compelling story. It is also a strikingly neglected one . . . Milton's considerable achievement is to deliver with characteristic clarity and colour this complex epic narrative . . . Milton brings commendable impartiality to his thoroughly researched book . . . PARADISE LOST proves a timely examination of a defining moment in the history of ethnic and religious conflict' (Sunday Telegraph )

'PARADISE LOST is a timely reminder of the appalling cost of expansionist political ambitions; it tells a fascinating story with clarity and insight' (Economist )

'PARADISE LOST is essential reading for anyone who cares about the past - and present - of today's Europe, indeed of civilisation itself' (Adam LeBor, Literary Review )

'Giles Milton . . . has written his best book to date' (Scotland on Sunday )

'[Milton is] a master of historical narrative' (The Sunday Times )

'Milton has a terrific eye for the kind of detail that can bring the past vividly to life off the page . . . restores an exotic lustre' (Spectator )

'Milton is a great storyteller . . . he conjures mood from dry parchment' (Express on Sunday )

'Milton has written a grimly memorable book' (William Dalrymple, Sunday Times )

About the Author
Giles Milton is a writer and journalist. He has contributed articles to most of the British national newspapers as well as many foreign publications. He is the author of five previous works of non-fiction and one novel. His books have been translated into sixteen languages worldwide. He travelled widely during the course of his research for PARADISE LOST, notably to Turkey and Greece.

Customer Reviews

A gripping account of a forgotten but tragic chapter: oh that we would learn the lessons of geopolitical meddling...
Every war has its unintended consequences, and the First World War was no exception. Perhaps its greatest aftershock was the collapse of the centuries-old Ottoman Empire, a fact that perfectly illustrates the complexities of a war that had been sparked by a political assassination in Bosnia and the aggression of Germany's Kaiser Bill. After years of the relatively quiet co-existence of different ethnic and religious groups, the new Turkish republic was carved out in the flames of terrible ethnic tension and indeed cleansing. No city represented the agony of this process more than Smyrna (modern Izmir). Smyrna had been the grandest of cities - huge, ancient, fabulously wealthy with department stores and opera houses, idyllic landscapes and above all, great diversity.

Giles Milton has written a well-crafted, multi-layered account of its fall in 1922. This involved painstaking research on the day-to-day events surrounding its destruction that terrible September - but without the wider national and international perspective, this would have remained simply a remote if chilling episode in increasingly distant history.

But Smyrna's fall was a crucial moment for so many reasons:

- it explains or illustrates so many of the geopolitical tensions that exist today: between Greeks and Turks (especially in Cyprus); within former Yugoslavia; the debates about Turkey joining the EU. Atrocities and follies were not isolated to one side or another - Greeks invaded Asia Minor in vain pursuit of the "Megali Idea" (the big idea). They sought to avenge the centuries of Ottoman suppression of Greek culture in the region by uniting the 1000s of ethnic Greeks with Athens. The new Turkish nationalists were incensed by the occupation of Constantinople by the 1WW allies and the invasion by Greece. Roused by Ataturk, Smyrna was their greatest prize after Constantinople, being the richest trading city of the old empire. Milton convincingly explains that the city was certainly destroyed by Turkish soldiers, despite historical spin to the contrary - and the image of 1000s trapped in the small space between the burning buildings the harbour waters is truly pitiful. The fate of the hundreds of Armenians and Greeks sent on forced marches into the Turkish interior is too grim to imagine.

- it depicts the now lost but charmed existence of colonial life - the so-called Levantines (British, Americans, French, Italians etc) of Asia Minor lived in luxury and extraordinary wealth, strategically placed to capitalise on the European trade with the East. This was epitomised by the fact that there was even a district of the city inhabited by Americans actually called 'Paradise' (hence the book's title). Drawing on diaries and other first-hand accounts, Milton captures the atmosphere of denial and invincibility before Smyrna's inevitable fall.

- most significantly, to my mind however, is Milton's account of how the decisions of a precious few, secluded behind locked doors hundreds of miles away, can affect the fate of millions. Political compromises, prejudices and whims can have the equivalent of the Butterfly Effect. In particular, Lloyd-George bears much of the blame, easily swayed by the charm and rhetoric of Greek Prime Minister Venizelos and his romanticised notions of what Greece had been and should be - and he refused to listen to those who knew better. It took a simple telephone call from one prime minister to another to spark a 3-year conflict in Asia Minor, resulting in the deaths of 1000s, the enforced migration of 100,000s and the misery of millions. L-G is by no means the only one of course. But 'twas ever thus.

None of the principle actors comes out of this smelling of roses - the usual cocktail of pride, folly and passion is at play. But Milton highlights the heroics and nobility of some individuals: like the Ottoman governor of Smyrna, Rahmi Bey - an old Anglophile socially at ease with all the different cultures and groups of Smyrna, he actually resisted the orders to round up Armenians that came from the Sultanate in Constantinople. He even sought to negotiate with the British during the First World War in order to protect Smyrna's diverse population (despite this being treasonable once the Ottoman Empire had allied with the Kaiser). Or there was the decidedly unprepossessing American Methodist minister and YMCA employee, Asa Jennings. He found himself blagging his way into a temporary appointment as a Greek admiral in order to oversee the evacuation of hundreds of desperate refugees - an extraordinary story.

This is a brilliant and gripping book about a terrible time. Milton manages to glide between macro and micro levels with ease, and to my outsider's view (at least) seems sufficiently balanced and objective. But he also intersperses the grim realities with accounts of extraordinary coincidences, moments of absurdity and above all a very human story. Oh that we would learn of the dangers of ignorant war-mongering in distant realms... The story of Smyrna will not be known or remembered by many now (though it should be) - I certainly knew far too little about it. But what its destruction represents is all too contemporary... Iraq and Afghanistan anyone?

Missing History
Having travelled to Turkey for over 20 years this book helped fill in the History between 1914 - 1930s Well written, Giles Milton manages to keep a tension throught the book as well as explaining the complexity of the Turkish/Greek conflict giving both sides of the story. I have found this part of Turkish history still shrouded in silence, You can come across deserted Greek Villages and not much is said. This book helps with the explanation as to why the greeks left.

Amazing book, you can't book it down!
Being married to a greek whose grandparents come from Asia Minor, I was interested in reading the facts behind the destruction of Smyrna.
This book was most interesting in explaining the part allied powers played in the destruction.
You cannot put this book down, it is so shocking and thought provoking. It makes you realise how brutal humans can be, some of the things that happend are impossible for us to believe. During the second half I almost stopped reading the book because of the grusome yet truthful content.
I think most of Europe are unaware of the events that happened in September 1922 or at least know very little. With the turkish wanting to join the EU I think this is a book everybody should read.
Also I would like to note this is the first book I have ever read that has effected me so much to make me want to write a review.