today horton is best remembered for "the blight of asia", his 1926 book about the events, notably the systematic ethnic cleansing of the christian population, leading up to and during the great fire of smyrna. he briefly summarizes events from 1822 to 1909 and covers in more detail, with eye-witness accounts, events from 1909 to 1922. the title refers to what he considered the abominable behavior of the ottoman turks. horton, in his book records his personal memoirs from life in modern-day-turkey, while the events he describes are focused on that particular region, and that particular time.