18 November 2020
A new book by Yasser Munif conceives of the Syrian revolution and later war as nothing less than a battle for life itself against a vast state-operated machinery of death.
Books
Doctors are rightly cherished in our Covid-plagued world, but can they write poetry? A new translation of a 13th-century Syrian classic recalls a time when physicians were also rockstar musicians, celebrated authors, and public intellectuals.
A new book of artworks tackles the Syrian regime's use of public space as a tool of oppression, from 1980 to the present day.
A diverse and often divided family, the international left is on the rise today in response to economic failures and right-wing demagoguery. A new collection of 77 interviews captures the contemporary leftist zeitgeist, revealing its promises and weaknesses alike.
A new book by Cambridge University's Andrew Arsan arguing Lebanon is "a microcosm of the contemporary world" successfully analyzes the country's ills, offering a helpful framework for Lebanese seeking change, writes Joey Ayoub.
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.
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.