Paradise Lost

On Saturday, 9 September, 1922, the victorious Turkish cavalry rode into Smyrna, the richest and most cosmopolitan city in the Ottoman Empire.' 'In the aftermath of the First World War, Greece invaded Turkey with the aim of restoring a Christian empire in Asia Minor with Smyrna at its heart. The Great Powers, including Britain, supported Greece's war on Turkey. But by 1922, the Greeks had been vanquished. Many feared that the newly-victorious Turkish army would now unleash a terrible fury on Smyrna's infidel inhabitants: conquering Islamic armies were traditionally granted three days of pillage following the capture of a resisting city.

Softcover. English. Sceptre. 2009. ISBN: 9780340837870. 426 pp. Fair. Book No: 58805