From its conversion to Christianity to the Genocide during World War I, from the Soviet occupation to its recent independence, Armenia has seen a long and often turbulent history. This book traces Armenia's past from ancient times to the end of the 20th century through more than 200 colour maps containing information about physical geography, demography, and sociological, religious, cultural and linguistic history. Robert Hewson has divided the maps into five sections, each of which begins with a chronology of important dates and a historical introduction to the period. Specialized maps include Ptolemy's 2nd-century map of Armenia, as well as maps of Roman, Cilician, Ottoman, tsarist and Soviet Armenia. Other maps show the Persian khanate of Erevan; the Caucasian campaigns of World War I; the Armenian Genocide; the Armenian monuments in Turkey and Transcaucasia; the worldwide diaspora; ground plans of selected cities; and plans of the great monastery of Echmiadzin in 1660, 1890 and 1990. The atlas concludes with maps portraying the Karabagh war and the new Armenian Republic, and a bibliography compiles references to the historical, ethnological and travel literature on the region.
