The Book of Genocides by Dana Mashoian Walrath
In this haunting graphic narrative, 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 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.
Praise for the Book
“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.”― Joe Sacco, author of Palestine and The Once and Future Riot
“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.”― Nick Sousanis, author of Unflattening
“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.”― Deena Mohamed, author of Shubeik Lubeik
“[An] unflinching, artfully rendered history…While Walrath never shies away from human behavior at its most barbaric, her soulful, naïve-style drawings and collage work deliver grace and humanity to the victims of these cruelties. This brave, heartrending study commands attention.”― Publishers Weekly (Starred review)
Dana Mashoian Walrath is a writer, artist, and anthropologist. Her award-winning works include Aliceheimer’s, a graphic memoir about her mother’s dementia journey, and Like Water on Stone, a verse novel about the Armenian genocide. Her comics, art, essays, and poetry have been featured by The Nation, The Lancet, Slate, and NPR. Dana Mashoian Walrath lives in Vermont.
The Book of Genocides will be released by Harvard University Press on September 8, 2026. Support our work by pre-ordering the book at our Bookshop.org storefront.
The opinions expressed in this publication are solely those of the author and do not represent an official position of the International Armenian Literary Alliance.