A popular collection of facts on Armenian history and culture was recently announced the 2017 winner of the non-fiction category of the UK-based International Rubery Book Award, the oldest award for self-published and independent books in the UK.
The Rubery Award website describes Impact of Ancient Nation as “a beautifully produced, full color coffee table book…aimed at the Armenian diaspora but…equally fascinating to the general reader with little knowledge of the country.”
Impact of an Ancient Nation: Bridging the Past, Present, and Future with 100+ Facts about Armenia and Armenians by Lena Maranian Adishian and Nareg Seferian is a follow-up to The 100 Years, 100 Facts Project—the successful yearlong online educational initiative that the pair ran to mark the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
Impact of an Ancient Nation is a follow-up to the hugely successful year-long online educational initiative that the authors ran to mark the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
Lena Maranian Adishian
“We were very excited to have our work acknowledged in this manner. Our aim was to put together an educational work, highlighting the Armenian heritage as broadly as possible, curating a worthwhile selection from the Armenian experience. There is so much to Armenian history and culture that is worth knowing about, celebrating, and sharing. We are so glad and grateful to have been selected as the best non-fiction work by the judges at Rubery and hope that this book indeed makes its way to coffee tables, as well as school desks, libraries and community centers, whether being perused by Armenians or non-Armenians,” Lena said.
“Our website and social media campaigns were powerful tools to share our rich legacy as Armenians with a global Diaspora—and with the world at large—during the genocide centennial. We were very excited to discover that there wasn’t any less enthusiasm for our commemorative book, as we received orders from the United States, Canada, England, France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Lebanon, all the way out in Hong Kong, and, of course, Armenia itself,” Nareg added.
‘Impact of an Ancient Nation is an excellent educational resource—as a family reference book, Sunday school library addition, a commemorative gift to odar friends, or as a way to share the Armenian heritage with a new generation of children and grandchildren, nephews and nieces, cousins, and community members.’
Having sold out the initial run within six months of its original printing, the second run is now available online at https://100years100facts.com/product/impact-of-an-ancient-nation-the-book/, shipping worldwide, and also through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692661603/, as well as the Abril, Sardarabad, and NAASR bookstores.
Nareg Seferian
Impact of an Ancient Nation includes updated and revised versions of the 100 facts published on the project’s website. In addition, there are five bonus facts researched and written just for the book. The facts cover Armenian history, including entries on the Armenian Genocide, as well as profiles of Armenian Diaspora communities around the world, notable individuals, music and dance, religion and language, and even sports and entertainment. Impact of an Ancient Nation is beautifully designed by Harut Genjoyan of AlphaGraph LLC.
The book is a not-for-profit publication made possible with the generous support of the Arshag and Eleanor Dickranian Foundation (Los Angeles) and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon). All proceeds from the sale of the book will be directed toward covering production costs, with any additional income being donated to Armenian non-profits.
“This was no ordinary book but one meant to be treasured and preserved for generations to follow. It’s a ‘tour de force,’ if you’ll pardon my over-exuberance, simply because everything I ever wanted to know about my history and heritage is found within its contents.” —Tom Vartabedian
A page from Impact of an Ancient Nation
The 100 Years, 100 Facts Project ran from April 24, 2014 to April 24, 2015 in six languages, receiving visitors from over 120 countries and all 50 U.S. states, with thousands of followers through social media. The website was translated into Portuguese, Russian, French, and Spanish by volunteers based in Brazil (Portal Estação Armênia), France (Artem Asryan and Debora Babiszenko), and Ukraine, and it received a grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to have a professionally translated Turkish version.