Sharing the Burden

Transatlantic Studies Association Book Prize This extraordinary and powerful book on the Armenian question addresses a long neglected issue, one perceived at the time as being of great significance to US foreign policy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Based on massive archival research in US, British, French, and Armenian primary and secondary sources, this is a systematic, judicious, and elegantly presented volume. ... Besides excavating the details of the specific questions and issues arising from the case of Armenia, Laderman's comprehensive and wide-ranging study illuminates the implications for broader debates over the scope and limits of the global US role.

Aroop Mukharji, H-Diplo A tremendous volume. The sheer amount of research that went into the book is staggering, and Laderman's interpretations of the data are fresh and provocative. Readers will learn much about the Armenian question. They will also discover broader revelations about U.S. foreign relations in the book, challenging not just the history they know, but how history can be told.

Marc-William Palen, Diplomatic History Laderman makes a persuasive case that the Armenian question weighed heavily on the minds of official and non-governmental actors within the British and American empires. Going forward, historians of Gilded Age and Progressive Era Anglo-American relations, imperialism, and humanitarianism will need to grapple with the Armenian question with Sharing the Burden as the new starting point.

Tobias Cremer, Providence Magazine A thoroughly researched and highly compelling account of how the Armenian question acted as a catalyst for an emerging American-British geopolitical alliance and the United States' rise as a predominant actor in the international arena....[A] truly visionary presentation of the Armenian question as a precursor for the future dilemmas of humanitarian intervention in general and of American global leadership in particular....The book will remain an essential read for current and future American policymakers as they reflect on their personal leadership's potential and limitations, the factors driving their nation's willingness to engage the world, and the risks that come with 'sharing the burden' of international leadership and humanitarian intervention.

from the shortlist citation for the Whitfield Prize of the Royal Historical Society A fascinating and thoroughly assured work of international political history....With immense skill, Laderman weaves together numerous strands, including transatlantic relations, the politics of intervention, the role of missionaries, the rise of the US as a global power, various international and historical contexts, and World War I. Sharing the Burden is highly topical and immensely stimulating.

Grant Golub, LSE Review of Books By analysing a series of episodes many today have forgotten about, Laderman...reminds us that the dilemmas of humanitarian intervention ...

Charlie Laderman is a Lecturer in International History in the Department of War Studies at King's College London.