''The Forty Days of Musa Dagh'' was first published in German in 1933, written by Franz Werfel (died 1945) and translated into English in 1934 by Geoffrey Dunlop (died in 1947), so this original English edition is in the public domain outside of the USA.

This masterpiece by Austrian-Bohemian writer Franz Werfel brings the historical reality of the 1915 Armenian Genocide to intense life. You will pick an absolute titan of historical fiction with this book selection.

Detailing the real-life resistance of Armenian villagers during the 1915 Armenian Genocide, this tale tells how instead of submitting to Ottoman deportation orders, over 5,000 Armenians fled to the slopes of the mountain Musa Dagh ("Mountain of Moses"). Led by Gabriel Bagradian—an Armenian educated in Paris—they fortified a plateau and tried to successfully defend themselves against the Turkish army for 53 days until a passing French warship could rescue them. The book is a harrowing tribute to survival, human brotherhood, and the enduring will to resist injustice.