Historian Stefan Ihrig criticizes the book for sometimes not challenging her sources when they make false claims. According to Ihrig, the book "holds a mirror to official denial" and readers not familiar with Turkey's official narrative may not appreciate Göcek's achievement. Although "Göcek’s experiment perhaps does not entirely succeed", "the resulting book provides an immense treasure trove for readers and future researchers". According to Ihrig, each chapter could have been its own book, with additional contextualization and narrative.
