7 August 2019
Alia Malek's often-powerful portrait of her Damascus home sheds light on the perils and pleasures of Syria's pre-war society, but also leaves questions unresolved, writes Eric Reidy.
Books
A recent book argues violence is not merely an incidental feature of the Assad regime's rule in Syria, but rather an inseparable component of its governance strategy, consciously pursued and pervading almost every detail of citizens' interaction with the state.
An essential new book by the only international journalist to have lived full-time in Damascus post-2011 shows the Assad regime’s criminality to be even worse than previously understood.
A recent book explores the conditions under which Palestinians and Israelis might be able to reconcile. The challenges are immense, but worth studying, writes Joey Ayoub.
A new biography lays bare the extremist ideology that drives Benjamin Netanyahu, an early champion of the demagoguery that has now brought us his old friend, Donald Trump.
Mustafa Khalifa’s largely autobiographical, newly-translated novel The Shell, set in Syria’s infamous Tadmor prison, vividly captures the absurdity and ultrasadism that are the Assad regime’s lifeblood, writes Robin Yassin-Kassab.
Rania Abouzeid’s forthcoming book, No Turning Back: Life, Loss and Hope in Wartime Syria, succeeds in humanizing the individual participants in Syria’s agony—victims as well as villains.
While Iran and its regional proxies pose today as moderates combating “terrorism,” a new book shines further light on the role of state actors—Tehran and Pakistan above all—in facilitating al-Qaeda’s operations, from 9/11 up to the present day.
In this exclusive extract from his upcoming book, Alex Rowell argues there is no reason the Arabic wine poetry of Abu Nuwas cannot be called ‘Islamic’.
Hind Rifai reflects on the parallels between Samira al-Khalil’s diary under siege in Douma and the poems of Anna Akhmatova.
Alex Rowell reviews Yassin al-Haj Saleh's new book, recounts the “Syrianization” of our world and concludes that we had better all start becoming Free Syrians.