Best syria history books according to redditors
We found 72 Reddit comments discussing the best syria history books. We ranked the 33 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 72 Reddit comments discussing the best syria history books. We ranked the 33 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
No. I'm talking about 30+ years of research about Syrian military, with results of this kind, or this kind, and as can be read here.
If you want an actual answer to this question, it is not enough to examine Assad's (and the regime's) conduct since the beginning of the uprising in 2011. You can only get the full picture if you understand the composition and the statecraft of the regime since Assad pere wrested power from his intra-regime opponents in 1970. Some books worth reading are Hinnebusch's excellent primer on the rise of the Ba'ath Party (and later, the Assad clan) to power (Syria: Revolution From Above), Hanna Batatu's classic examination of [Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics]
(https://www.amazon.com/Syrias-Peasantry-Descendants-Notables-Politics/dp/0691002541), Lisa Wedeen on the cultural and ideological methods the regime uses to maintain power (Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria), and Patrick Seale's highly readable book on Hafez al-Assad and his Struggle for the Middle East. A more recent work dealing with the economic underpinnings of the regime (Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience) is also worth your time.
In short, take a good look at the nature of the regime and its policies over the last four decades and decide for yourself whether it is incapable of committing the war crimes it is accused of. You could also go through the many detailed reports human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch have put together alleging regime crimes, most recently their report on the Khan Sheikhoun nerve gas attack and the regime's ongoing use of chemical weapons.
Not sure which country you are from, but my understanding of Syria pre-Arab Spring is that it was (other than Saudi Arabia) maybe the most heavily controlled, 'totalitarian' systems of any of them. Lisa Wedeen's Ambiguities of Domination was a great survey of the pre-2012 political control system. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/022633337X?keywords=assad%20syria&qid=1453415444&ref_=sr_1_8&sr=8-8
Just a counterpoint to the idea that dissent could possibly be more monitored and quashed than ever before.
Which piece is the random blog post by a no name blogger? The War is Boring one? That is hardly a random blog, and the guy who wrote the piece recently released a book on the subject that I plan on reading once it' out on Kindle. He also has a crap ton of other books on ME military subjects.
Edit: Also, if you actually read the TRADOC report, it cites the 125,000 number to a NY Time article from April 2015. Not exactly a reliable or up to date source. I don't know if they're using citation in the public domain to cover up for actual intelligence estimates, but the citation section is overwhelmingly news article and blog posts.
For a general explanation, read Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. For specific examples on Syria, read The Dirty War on Syria. You can borrow them from me if you like.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism by Oscar Wilde -- an introduction to libertarian socialism, a foreign topic to most people ("isn't that, like, an oxymoron?") but pretty rewarding and interesting once you get into it.
If you care about current events (and this one is highly important), you can read about what's going on in Rojava, in Northern Syria. To understand the character of what they're doing there and their social revolution you can read Murray Bookchin and Abdullah Ocalan. They've both written a lot but it doesn't take much to understand the gist of their ideas and, more importantly, how they're being applied right now in Rojava. Democratic confederalism is the name of the specific system at work in Rojava.
Books I can recommend that have to do with the above:
A Small Key Can Open A Large Door: Rojava Revolution
Rojava: An Alternative to Imperialism, Nationalism, and Islamism in the Middle East
To Dare Imagining: Rojava Revolution
Revolution in Rojava: Democratic Autonomy and Women's Liberation in Syrian Kurdistan
Most everything on this list
War and Peace in Kurdistan
Democratic Confederalism
Obviously that's a fairly dense list. You don't have to read all those. But I do suggest you at least look into Rojava and the ideology behind it on a basic level, as in my opinion it's one of the most important developments in the world right now and it's fascinating to see the application of democratic confederalism, autonomous self-organization, ethnic and religious plurality, and women's liberation on such an impressive scale.
On the topic of movies, it just so happens that there are a number of Rojava documentaries which might help you gain a basic understanding of what it's like there. You can find plenty by looking up "Rojava documentary". Here's a good one. This is the most recent, I believe.
Good studies!
The reasons for the 2011 rebellion were numerous and not widely disputed. The reasons for its apocalyptic escalation and the attraction of all the insane foreign powers, Iran, Turkey, US, Saudi Arabia, Russia, etc. is the theoretical problem. The book by Phillips - which does not neglect the way the great powers went about cutting up states - contains an account of this which is admired by people with widely divergent views
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L7SSDNO
It is a bit strange to belabor the conception 'colonization' here; the Levant was only briefly ruled by Western powers. The Assad family has been in power longer much longer than the French were.
this one is the best:
https://www.amazon.com/Kurds-Concise-History-Fact-Book-ebook/dp/B00YUY70W8/
if you need for Rojava, this one is freshly published:
https://www.amazon.com/Kurds-Northern-Syria-Governance-Diversity-ebook/dp/B07VT7WYCX/
Most people here would have been following and researching the war, and the larger Middle East picture, online for years now. I don't think there is a quick way to get that amount of knowledge.
Books would be your best bet though for quickly catching up. I would recommend you focus on one good book on the Syrian war, one book on ISIS, and one book on the Middle East region as a whole. Should cover the basics.
I always recommend Robert Fisk's The Great War for Civilisation as a good backgrounder on the Middle East. It's about Fisk's 40 years as a Middle East correspondent and each chapter of the 1,000+ page book looks at another war that he covered. So you'll get an idea of 2003 Iraq War, Afghanistan, Israel-Palestine, Lebanese Civil War, Iran-Iraq War, Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. It also covers his interviews with Bin Laden and the rise of Al Qaeda.
Will give you a good big picture of the last few decades of history and how we got here. Understanding the history of the players like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Al Qaeda is just as important as understanding the internal situation of the war.
Other than that plenty of books available on the Syria war specifically. Can take your pick. My choice would be Christopher Philips The Battle for Syria. A London based Researcher for Chatam House and Queen Mary University.
But plenty of other books available that all cover the recent war.
Haven't read any books on ISIS itself, since I've followed it since the early days. But for quickly catching up there are several books looking at the group and its rise.
It all depends on what kind of angle you're looking for.
Here is by no means an exhaustive list. I must say I haven't read all of these but have come across them in research and from previous recommendations on here, but here goes:
Background/Social & Historical contexts/Other relevant stuff
Patrick Seale - Assad (rather old, good for history)
Tarek Osman - Islamism (2016, broad coverage of Islamism in theory and practice, good context)
John Robertson - Iraq (2016)
John McHugo - Syria (2015)
Sami Moubayed - Syria & The USA (2013)
Sami Moubayed - Damascus Between Democracy and Dictatorship (2000, very good for Syrian history and experience with democracy)
Perceived pro-original opposition bias
Diana Darke - My House in Damascus (new version came out 2015)
Michael Weiss & Hassan Hassan - ISIS (2015)
Charles Lister - The Syrian Jihad (2016)
Perceived pro-government bias
Patrick Cockburn - Rise of the Islamic State (2015, this might not be as detailed as you'd want it to be)
Kurds
Michael Knapp, Ercan Ayboga & Anja Flach - Revolution Rojava (2016, the detail in this is beyond insane)
American here. I’d recommend giving Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War by Leila Al-Shami and Robin Yassin-Kassab a read.
Firstly, it's not accurate nor sagely to state that "every book is biased". Secondly, make sure you're using the word bias correctly. A bias, in printed media, would fail to include, ignore, diminish, and/or fail to find merit in the opposed subject matter - much more sever, in my opinion, than presenting the information with a certain perspective in mind.
That said, it's going to be difficult to find books about the Syrian War because it's still ongoing. You're basically asking for books that have either been subjected to scholarly review and the historical method, or data put out by NGOs. None of that really exists yet. But, I'd suggest this book as a start, gives a good history of wahabism and salafism, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, the bin Laden family and it's ties to the KSA, and provides a pretty good framework for the various religious tensions and floes in the Middle East and North Africa. There are more scholarly books on the subject but I enjoyed his writing style and the facts are all there.
The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
Other than that, this is probably the most "scholarly" publication on the Syrian Civil War so far, to my knowledge.
Syrian Conflagration: The Syrian Civil War, 2011-2013
What are you even talking about? Who are you trying to fool with these third-grade slogans?
Syria is a military dictatorship, whatever formal designation it would ever have. All the power circles in Syria are fully in control of Alawi ethnicity.
All the "Sunni" in these circles are only by name, and have sworn allegiance to Alawite clans that dominate the country.
The country has never been truly secular ever since Hafez came to power, and the situation only marginally improved under Bashar.I recommend a great book on Syria's power structure, but I doubt you will ever read it. Others, who read this, just might though.
>Why is this guy pretending that the US has been protecting Assad when they were quite explicit from the beginning in their intention to bring about regime change in Syria
This has never been the position of the US government. There have been some in the State Department establishment who have called for it, but it was never taken up in a serious way. The position of the Obama regime has been to call for Assad to step down, impose sanctions on them due to political pressure, but to insure that the state remains in tact. Stability in a region wrecked by capital and going through a wave of revolution is more important than toppling someone who has links to Iran - especially when the United States is in active retreat from the region in an attempt to reorient towards China. The existence of a stable strong regime has become all the more important as they can act as a bulwark against IS.
The only forces who have wanted to actually topple him have been the Saudis, Oman, and Turkey - although their interventions have been limited to allowing supplies through (in Turkey's case) and providing funds to select groups (Saudis, Oman).
>and in fact actively supported Syrian rebels
The US has actively maintained an embargo of heavy weapons on the opposition forces, preventing them from purchasing the anti-tank and anti-air missiles that would (somewhat) equalise the conflict.
>The US-Iranian regime...
He's specifically talking about the nature of the Iraqi government as being a client of both Iran and the United States.
>Iran is really enemy #1 in the region as far as the US is concerned.
The US is not concerned about the region. It has struck a deal with Iran and is intent on withdrawing the bulk of it's forces to be redeployed in Eastern Europe and the Asia-Pacific. Obviously it can't do that now since IS is a major destabilising threat and any immediate withdrawal would make the situation a lot worse for the US, leading to the deal with Iran and the now defacto alliance between Iran and Syria and the US.
>I don't even know what to say to this one. This guy is something else.
He's mocking you.
>The reality is that whatever credibility the revolution had when it was leftists, students and workers airing their more than legitimate concerns with the Syrian regime
These workers, students, and leftists (more or less petite-bourgeois liberals, there was never a real left in Syria, much like Australia in that regard) are still there. There are thousands of grassroots activits still active across Syria, but more so in the rebel held zones because they can act with relative impunity and don't have to worry about the secret police dragging them off to be tortured to death.
> it was subverted by Jihadists just like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and just like the Iranian clergy in 1979.
The only reason this could happen was the brutality of Assad when first faced with anti-government protests and forcing the revolution to militarise. The reason islamist groups became so prevalent was because they were the only ones getting money and guns from the outside, and the only ones that could fight back so why wouldn't people join these groups.
>just like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
So you support the counter-revolutionary military regime of Sisi? The Muslim Brotherhood are neoliberal democrats, at worst they would be like a Muslim version of the Liberal Party.
Also; saying that every opposition group in Syria (or that the MB) are jihadists, is literally just saying that every Muslim that engages in politics is a terrorist. A perfect example of "left-wing" Islamophobia and orientalism.
For further reading: https://www.amazon.com/Burning-Country-Syrians-Revolution-War/dp/0745336221
This guy thought Assad was the tops, interviewed him all the time, respected his ideas on reform and modernization. At the time I thought it was utter garbage:
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Lion-Damascus-al-Asad/dp/0300109911/
Then this same guy continued to follow the situation and changed his mind:
http://www.amazon.com/Syria-The-Fall-House-Assad/dp/0300186517/
>A widely respected Middle East scholar and consultant, Lesch came to know the president better than anyone in the West, in part through a remarkable series of meetings with Assad between 2004 and 2009. Yet for Lesch, like millions of others, Assad was destined to disappoint. In this timely book, the author explores Assad's failed leadership, his transformation from bearer of hope to reactionary tyrant, and his regime's violent response to the uprising of his people in the wake of the Arab Spring.
There aren't many examples of sane, well-adjusted, authoritarian fellows. They tend to turn out wicked regardless of their background or previous moral stances. Going to western university doesn't mean you become a sensible rational thinker, and leading a dictatorship or supporting your family even in its time of ultimate struggle is more fun than being a western professional (See: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi).
This book is "the" book about Rojava. Though if you plan on buying it, you should buy it from here if you can because you will be supporting independent publishing. If you want the PDFs at any time just shoot me a PM and I will send them to you on email or google drive or something.
The kindle version is currently on sale for $15.68. The only "free version" would be through piracy.
this book is rather objective and to the point in discribing the rise of al-Assad to power.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Struggle-For-Power-Syrian/dp/1860640249
Here’s yesterday’s Op Ed from Mazloum Abdi, Commander-In-Chief of SDF
> e provided services through local governing authorities for Arabs, Kurds, and Syriac Christians. We called on a pluralistic Syrian national identity that is inclusive for all. This is our vision for Syria’s political future: decentralized federalism, with religious freedom and respect for mutual differences.
>The forces that I command are now dedicated to protecting one-third of Syria against an invasion by Turkey and its jihadi mercenaries. The area of Syria we defend has been a safe refuge for people who survived genocides and ethnic cleansings committed by Turkey against the Kurds, Syriacs, Assyrians, and Armenians during the last two centuries.
And if you’d like to read a more in depth version, I suggest buying Wladimir Van Wilgenburg’s book about Northern Syria, where he explains it all in detail
I like to think of it more along the lines of "ensure that human capitol is not destroyed so a failed state does not become the status quo".
I'll recommend some reading on the Syrian conflict.
https://www.amazon.ca/SYRIA-Descent-Abyss-Robert-Fisk/dp/1633533700/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=syria&qid=1554928375&s=gateway&sr=8-4
And who exactly are you (or anyone else) to tell people they support anyone "for the wrong reasons"? Go to Time or NYT archive, check that Al-Assad was popular and widely supported, especially among the youth. If you're not afraid to change your views, read this article by Stephen Gowans (https://gowans.wordpress.com/2016/10/22/the-revolutionary-distemper-in-syria-that-wasnt/), pay special attention to footnotes. Or read the whole book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1771861088/. Or Tim Anderson's book: https://www.amazon.com/Dirty-War-Syria-Tim-Anderson/dp/0973714786. Compare the documentation of sources in both books with sources of the propaganda you see all over the media (the SOHR said, White Helmets said).
Your arguments would hold water if they were not directly contradicted by reality. People in Syria fled from "rebel-held areas" to government controlled territories, in millions. Even Western sources wouldn't deny that. When the Russian-supported offensives started, a few hundred thousands remained under the jihadi rule. Again, go ahead, ask Syrians what the rule looked like: obligatory beards for men and burkas for women, closed schools, food and medicine hoarded by the "rebels" paid by Gulf sheiks, people used as hostages and live shields. I'm sorry, but your information is tainted at the source. No, Assad is not a bloody-toothed vampire who kills own citizens out of pure evil; no, SAA didn't kill most of the civilian victims during the war. This particular statistics you're referring to was produced by the Syrian Network for Human Rights: http://sn4hr.org/blog/2017/01/21/31375/. And just like the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the "Network" is one guy who lives in England. Read this: https://counter-hegemonic-studies.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/TA-hum-war-18-1.pdf
This is a very large expanse of time in which many events took place and I unfortunately don't have time right now to cover the whole thing (nor the proper expertise) but if you have perhaps a more specific question I can likely give an informed and sourced answer (i.e. the rise of the Baathist party specifically or the Assad family within the Baathist party.)
In terms of some good sources to check out, David Lesch has written a ton about Syrian history, specifically in his twin books The New Lion of Damascus and The Fall of the House Assad between the two you should get a good glimpse of Syrian history under the Assads (with a definite focus on Bashar.) Just a word of caution, Lesch had a lot of personal interaction with Bashar (which is partially what makes him so informed) but this also leads to a bias towards Bashar in the first book which he is in a way trying to rectify in his second book.
Hopefully this helps, sorry I couldn't answer more completely.