Martha Neff Kessler

A short but good general history of Syria under Hafiz al-Asad, covering internal political issues (especially Syria's sectarian makeup), regional conflicts (Israel, Iraq, etc.), and Syrian foreign policy. Some weird spelling errors ("inn" is a preposition?) that are probably the result of careless printing.

The biggest complaint that I had about this book is that it was reprinted in 2002 but was not updated from its original publication in 1987. A missed opportunity to fill in a period of Syrian history that doesn't get covered very much - many of the general Syrian history books were written in the late 1980s. After Bashar al-Asad came to power, there were a whole slew of books written about him and his rule, but there is a coverage gap of about 10 years in there. And since those 10 years witnessed the collapse of the USSR (Syria's biggest military backer), the First Gulf War (Syria on the side of the US!), the beginning of the Syrian peace process (about which there are a number of detailed books), the death of Hafiz's original successor, the grooming of his new successor, and then the last years of his rule, it seems like there is room for some reassessment of his rule. Its too bad that this book wasn't reprinted with at least an updated chapter on new developments.

Reading this book I found it amazing to view Syria from the perspective of 1987, before all these surprising events occurred and to see how little idea anyone had that they would be possible in such a short time. Really makes you wonder where some of these countries will be in another 10 years.… (mehr)