Lang was born in Bromley and was educated at Monkton Combe School and St John’s College, Cambridge where he was a Major Scholar and later held a Fellowship.
[6][7][8] Avedis K. Sanjian wrote that its "purpose and scope are not specifically stated" and Lang "attempted to write about practically every aspect of Armenian history and civilization from prehistoric times to the present."
It criticized the disproportionate focus on prehistoric Armenia, "occasional untenable conclusions, and frequent injection of irrelevancies and journalistic quotations.
On the other hand, the author's deep enthusiasm for his subject, his great facility for condensing and popularizing scholarly research and his lucid style which borders on the romantic, will undoubtedly have a strong appeal to the non-specialist reader.
He added: "Indeed, the frequently flamboyant prose, the nearly complete emphasis on political history and personalities, and the allusions to national characteristics give the text a distinctly old-fashioned quality."
Suny argued that Lang overlooked historiographic disputes and controversial issues and did not attempt to analyze the "centrifugal forces operating in Armenian society (the naxarar system), the influence of geography, the effect of living between great and hostile empires to the east and west, or the weight of Islamic rule.