An award-winning writer, artist, and descendant of genocide survivors brings history’s darkest horrors to life, calling on us to remember, repair, and resist.
The Book of Genocides is a haunting graphic narrative that compels readers to confront the most harrowing chapters of human history not as distant events but as visceral experiences. Dana Mashoian Walrath covers ten major atrocities across five centuries: the mass slaughter of the First Peoples of the Americas, the brutalization of Black Americans, the devastation of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the Cambodian killing fields, the Rwandan genocide, the Bosnian genocide, the deadly persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar, and the genocide in Gaza.
Walrath makes plain that the purpose of genocide is always a land grab, and its central apparatus is dehumanization: each chapter delves into how dehumanization operates, not just through violence but through the political and intellectual systems that enable it. The book’s unique interactive design allows readers to reshape images of victims into grotesque forms mirroring the mental mechanisms of dehumanization. With each page turn, the victims’ humanity is restored, making their suffering undeniable.
The Book of Genocides is an unsettling experience, shot through with the emotional gravity of horrific events—not just historical memories but ongoing realities, painful truths that shape our world and demand our action.
Reviews
David Smith, The Guardian
“Audacious and personal…An experimental blend of anthropology, memoir, and visual art…In the tradition of Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Joe Sacco’s Palestine, The Book of Genocides uses the graphic form to bridge the gap between abstract history and raw empathy.”
Oliver Sava, A.V. Club
“A haunting read that uses expressionist imagery to intensify the emotional impact of the writing, communicating Walrath's profound sadness and rage as she recounts some of humanity's darkness moments…A boundary-pushing exploration of historical genocides.”
Noah Fischer, Hyperallergic
“Walrath’s strongest tool is the no-holds-barred creative exuberance she forges through juxtapositions and revelatory drawings, writings, and collages…[A] powerful contribution. Full of heart, it has given us a rich lens for staring into our common abyss.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Unflinching [and] artfully rendered...Deliver[s] grace and humanity to the victims of these cruelties. This brave, heartrending study commands attention.”
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Searing...[An] inspired and affecting pairing of images and prose...A highly creative and devastating overview of a grim and global phenomenon.”
Booklist (starred review)
Brilliant...[A] remarkable literary accomplishment... Walrath offers an utterly unique presentation.”
Joe Sacco, author of Palestine
“With her singular artwork and revelatory approach, Dana Walrath is an unflinching guide through the long sweep of humanity’s most shameful episodes. This is how art answers back.”
Alison Bechdel, author of Spent and Fun Home
“Through an ingenious welding of words and pictures, the personal and the historical, Dana Mashoian Walrath helps us overcome our resistance to the horrific and urgent subject of genocide. Even turning the pages of this very book in our hands becomes an interactive tool for undoing the process of dehumanization. Walrath’s vision is deeply humane, and her message couldn't be timelier.”
Nick Sousanis, author of Unflattening
“Essential reading. History lesson. Cautionary tale. The Book of Genocides is all this and much more. This breathtaking graphic narrative is as brave as it is beautiful. It should be on reading lists and syllabi everywhere.”
Deena Mohamed, author of Shubeik Lubeik
“Necessary and heartbreaking, The Book of Genocides arrives as we witness at least two genocides unfolding in real time, on our phones, through our social media feeds, as news headlines. Dana Walrath’s expansive, thoughtful graphic narrative examines what genocide has meant to millions and asks why that knowledge has not protected those still at risk. I hope this book helps future generations avoid the mistakes that brought us here.”
Hillary Chute, author of Disaster Drawn
“An innovative, expressive, and devastating account of ten genocides—and the genocidal impulse across time and location. Artist and anthropologist Dana Mashoian Walrath offers readers a handwritten, collaged, and drawn report that invites connection even while detailing horror. Formally experimental and deeply thoughtful, this is a profound and moving work.”
Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of On a Wing and a Tear
“A brilliant and imaginative book that helps us grapple with some of the most immoral and devastating acts of violence in human history.”
