"The Lost Paradise" is a powerful story of destruction, heroism, and survival, told with the unique voice that made Giles Milton a successful journalist and author.

It unfolds through the memories of survivors, many of whom speak publicly for the first time, and the testimonies of those caught in the whirlwind of one of the greatest disasters in modern history. On September 9, 1922, the Turkish cavalry entered Smyrna, the richest and most cosmopolitan city of the Ottoman Empire.

In the city, there was widespread fear that the now victorious Turkish army would unleash its fury on the residents of Smyrna. However, reality disproved even the most ominous predictions. What happened in the following two weeks has been recorded as one of the most horrific dramas in the history of the twentieth century, the drama of the uprooting of thousands of refugees, whose blood runs in the veins of many modern Greek families.

Nearly two million people fell victim to a horrific destruction, in terms of both violence and scale.