This collection of essays explores genocide and persecution of the Kurds, including the historical and cultural background of Kurdish persecution in Turkey and Iraq events from the rise of the communist People's Republic of China in 1949 to the present. Readers are presented with issues surrounding events such as Saddam Hussein's persecution of the Kurds in Iraq, Turkey's treatment of the Kurdish people, and the pros and cons of establishing an independent state for the Kurds. Personal narratives are included from people touched by the events including Kurdish survivors of Saddam Hussein's poison gas attacks and a Turkish Kurd who laments the denial of his cultural identity.