george horton was a man of letters and united states consul in greece and turkey at a time of social and political change. he writes of the re-taking of smyrna by the turkish army in september 1922. his account, however, goes beyond the blame and events to a demonization of muslims, in general, and of turks, in particular. in several of his novels, written more than two decades before the events of september 1922, he had already identified the turk as the stock-in-trade villain of western civilization. in his account of smyrna, he writes not as historian, but as publicist.