The Blight of Asia
Today, Horton is most remembered for his 1926 account "The Blight of Asia" relating, among a variety of topics, the Great Fire of Smyrna that ravaged the city of Smyrna starting on 13 September 1922, two days after the Consul general's departure from his post there on 11 September, and that lasted for 4 days.
By the time of publication Horton had resigned his diplomatic commission, and he wrote strictly in the capacity of a private citizen, drawing on his own observations and those of the people he quotes. His account remains as controversial as the fire itself.
His account of the forced exodus of Smyrna's christian inhabitants (Greek and Armenian), by Ottoman Turkish soldiers, chronicles the latter stages of the ethnic cleansing of Asia Minor's native christian population.
Read more about this topic: George Horton
Famous quotes containing the words blight and/or asia:
“Our blight must be removed from this Earth. What lies beyond is something else again.”
—Richard Matheson (b. 1926)
“Incarnate devil in a talking snake,
The central plains of Asia in his garden,
In shaping-time the circle stung awake,
In shapes of sin forked out the bearded apple....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)