Written by Lieutenant Colonel R. S. Stafford, the British Administrative Inspector for Mosul, The Tragedy of the Assyrians depicts the massacres that befell the Assyrians in Iraq in 1933, following their uprooting from their homelands during World War I. The book begins with a brief history of the Assyrians and the relevant events of World War I. It then discusses the settlement of the Assyrians in Iraq, and the establishment of the Assyrian Levies. The book goes on to explore the effects of the end of the British Mandate in Iraq, the new Iraqi government and finally the slaughter of the Assyrians in 1933.