In early 1915, under the cover of World War I, an entire nation was deliberately, almost completely, annihilated. About one million Armenians lost their lives due to massacres, forced deportations, and starvation. Despite the recognition by many countries and historians of a premeditated plan to destroy this people, holding the Ottoman authorities of the time responsible, successive Turkish authorities still insist on not acknowledging this shameful act. (The term "The Shameful Act" was used by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, to describe the massacres against the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire in 1915).

In this unprecedented work, Turkish historian Professor Tanar Akçam presents a meticulous and radical investigation into this deliberate act carried out by the Ottoman authorities at the time. He bases his work primarily on Ottoman sources, including military records, court sessions, parliamentary minutes, correspondence, and eyewitness reports, particularly from the extraordinary military tribunals formed in Istanbul between 1919 and 1922. After studying and researching the causes of the total destruction, Akçam re-explores the plan for this destruction and its implementation by the state apparatus, the army, and the ruling party. He also presents the many failed attempts to prosecute those responsible for this shameful act.

Akçam is considered one of the first Turkish intellectuals to not only acknowledge the Armenian Genocide but also to discuss it openly. He is a historian and sociologist who holds the only chair dedicated to researching and teaching this subject. Tanar Akçam was born in Ardahan province, Turkey, in 1953 and became interested in Turkish political life at an early age. He has been a bold advocate for democracy and freedom of expression since he was a student at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara and is an international human rights activist. In the mid-1970s, Akçam was active in pro-democracy student groups following the 1971 coup in Turkey. As a result of his activities, views, and work as the editor-in-chief of the "Revolutionary Youth" newspaper, he was arrested and sentenced to about 9 years in prison, plus 3 years under surveillance. During his trial, Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience. A year after his imprisonment, he managed to escape from Ankara Central Prison and was granted political asylum in Germany, where he completed his studies and earned his Ph.D. in 1995. He is currently a professor in the Armenian Genocide Studies department at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University.

• Publishing House: Dar Al-Farabi for Publishing and Distribution
• Number of Pages: 512
• Year of Publication: 2017
• ISBN: 9786144327678