Among the ruins
Subtitle: Syria past and present
By: Christian C. Sahner
Publisher: Hurst & Company
Published: 2014
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 223
ISBN-13: 9781849044004
Subjects: Social conditions; Religion; Politics and government; Political science; Social history; Syria
Description: As a civil war shatters a country and consumes its people, historian Christian C. Sahner offers a poignant account of Syria, where the past profoundly shapes its dreadful present. Among the ruins blends history, memoir and reportage, drawing on the author's extensive knowledge of Syria in ancient, medieval, and modern times, as well as his experiences living in the Levant on the eve of the war and in the midst of the "Arab Spring." Sahner focuses on five themes of interest to anyone intrigued and dismayed by Syria's fragmentation since 2011: the role of Christianity in society; the arrival of Islam; the rise of sectarianism and competing minorities; the emergence of the Ba'ath Party; and the current pitiless civil war.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.