As the ruthless Ottoman and Russian empires clashed under the false banner of religion, the unsuspecting Armenian and Assyrian peasants of Albak were caught in a holocaust of burning, looting and massacre. Engulfed in the inescapable impact of these events, Raffi set aside everything else to write his first historical novel, "Jalaleddin". With sparing but vivid strokes he fashioned a stark, compact drama of epic proportions, forging a story that...