Among the Ruins: Syria Past and Present - Couverture rigide

Sahner, Christian

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0199396701 ISBN 13 : 9780199396702

Editeur : Oxford University Press, USA, 2014

Synopsis

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.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse :

'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

'Provides a snapshot of Syria on the eve of war, through the eyes of a young American travelling through the Middle East.' --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

'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, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University

Biographie de l'auteur :

Christian C. Sahner is an historian of the Middle East. He graduated from Princeton University and the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is completing his doctorate at Princeton, focusing on the role of non-Muslims in Islamic societies. Sahner's writing has been published in The Times Literary Supplement and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press, USA
• Date d'édition: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0199396701
• ISBN 13: 9780199396702
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 256