Among the Ruins: Syria Past and Present - Tapa dura

In his beautiful patchwork of recent experience and academic history, [Sahner] gives a truly original portrait of contemporary Syria without shirking the social problems, physical ugliness or political realities many Westerners often want to deny ... Sahner gives a long historical arc, going back to pre-Islamic, Byzantine Syria, before going on to produce a moving and highly readable account of the country today. His close attention to the buildings and geography of Syria, together with accounts of his many friendships, bring the country into sharper focus than textual sources alone can do. -- The Times Literary Supplement [E]rudite historical analysis ... [Sahner's] perspective is rewarding indeed, both in questioning and shaking many of the narratives supplied to us by sensationalist media reports, and in providing a deeper understanding of the origins of the current conflict ... While Sahner's historical knowledge is evident, so too is his compassion for the people he meets ... [A] considerate treatment of a topic that has been widely misconstrued elsewhere. -- Insight Turkey Among the Ruins is a uniquely vivid evocation of the past of Syria and a prescient record of its present state. Deeply humane and drawing on subjects from all walks of life, Sahner has a gift for presenting them against a past that is as varied and as ancient as the country itself. We are brought to the edge of the precipice over which, alas, a magnificently diverse society appears to have stumbled. We will be both better informed and wiser for reading it. -- Peter Brown, Rollins Professor Emeritus of History at Princeton University This book greets the reader through the lens of a medieval Islamic historian well-versed in the historical treasures and antiquities of Syria. His appreciation of Syria's long and important history in the region provides a useful backdrop for understanding today's tragic conflict, much of which is unfortunately erasing that physical history. Sahner aims to make sure this history is not forgotten in an accessible work that makes important connections between Syria's past, present and future in a way that will satisfy the non-specialist and specialist alike. -- David W. Lesch, Ewing Halsell Distinguished Professor of Middle East History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and author of Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad Among the Ruins is a veritable pleasure to read, despite the poignancy of its subject matter. Combining an account of its author's travels through a Syria now largely destroyed by the ravages of war with a reflection on the causes and course of the Syrian revolution which began in March 2011, the Baathist regime's ruthless response, and the country's subsequent descent into civil war, it is both elegantly written and judicious in its opinions. Informed by Christian Sahner's deep knowledge of classical and medieval history, eastern Christianity and Islam, and enlivened by his travel writer's eye for the telling detail, it will make a useful primer for those seeking to place Syria's current predicament in historical perspective. -- Andrew Arsan, University Lecturer in Modern Middle Eastern History, St John's College, Cambridge Compact and to the point, [Among the Ruins] documents the long history of Syria's cultural and religious past in concise but approachable language ... Sahner's work illustrates not only why the current sociopolitical upheaval came about but also why it is important to all countries. -- Library Journal With an academic expertise in late antiquity in the Middle East, Sahner gives even the seventh and eighth centuries important proximity. In light of the re-emergence of nihilistic and extremist language from the likes of the Islamic State, which promotes a distorted version of Islam's past, Sahner's history is all the more important. -- The Cairo Review Sahner's writing engages all the reader's senses without wasting a word. His precision keeps the story moving at breakneck speed, leaving the reader with essential insights while eliding potentially distracting factual minutiae. The combination is sheer brilliance. The book is especially impressive given the magnitude of Sahner's intellectual task and the grace with which he accomplishes it. -- Brock Dahl, The Witherspoon Institute This excellent little book, a mixture of "deep" history and travelogue, is essential reading for anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the current situation in Syria and the Middle East, beyond newspaper headlines. -- LSE Review of Books Among the Ruins is a readable and interesting account of Syria's history for non-specialists. ... [T]he importance of this book and the historical and cultural diversities which it recognises and explains are placed in an even more acute, modern perspective when one considers the recent wanton destruction of historical and cultural sites by Islamic State forces. -- Asian Affairs Provides a snapshot of Syria on the eve of war, through the eyes of a young American traveling through the Middle East. -- Publishers Weekly

As a civil war shatters a country and consumes its people, historian Christian 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'. These plotlines converge in a rich narrative of a country in constant flux -- a place renewed by the very shifts that, in the near term, are proving so destructive. 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. Among the Ruins is a brisk and illuminating read, an accessible introduction to a country with an enormously rich past and a tragic present. For anyone seeking to understand Syria, this book should be their starting point.