Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch (1862-1913) came from a prominent Anglo-Irish family of explorers, travellers and businessmen. Family interests in the Middle East, together with his mother's Armenian ancestry, led him in the 1890s to undertake a number of extensive journeys to Armenia which form the basis of this work. Covering both Russian and Turkish Armenia, Lynch's detailed observations include commentary on Armenian history, politics, culture, church, ethnicity and architecture. Together with the geographical, statistical and political information he included, these two volumes remain one of the most definitive accounts in English.

This edition is illustrated and includes a new introduction by Simon Payaslian, who holds the Charles K. and Elisabeth M. Kenosian Chair in Modern Armenian History and Literature, Boston University, USA.