Revolt in Syria: Eye-Witness to the Uprising(Columbia/Hurst)

In January of 2011, President Bashar al-Assad officially declared Syrian society stable and the government immune to revolt. In the months that followed, and as regimes fell in Egypt and Tunisia, thousands of ordinary Syrians took to the streets calling for an end to Assad's regime. Many have been killed by the bullets of the president's army. In Revolt in Syria, Stephen Starr delves deep into the lives of those affected by the Syrian state over the past five decades. Interviewing people from all levels of society, he gathers and interprets the varied views and beliefs that show why Syria, with its numerous sects and religious diversity, has been so prone to violence and civil instability. Gaining unique access to a country largely cut off from the international media, Starr delivers compelling firsthand testimony from those who have suffered and from those who benefited most from the regime. Revolt in Syria reveals why many Syrians wanted Assad's government to stay intact as an alternative to endless civil war. It measures the long-standing gap between the state apparatus and its people and explains what led Syria's youth to finally stand up and call decisively for freedom. Starr also outlines the positions of the country's minorities and describes why many Syrians believe enforced regime change will only lead to region-wide conflict.

About the Author :
Stephen Starr is a freelance Irish journalist who has been reporting from Damascus since 2007. He covered the Syrian uprising for some of the world's leading newspapers and his work has been published in the Washington Post, Financial Times, the London Times and the London Sunday Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Irish Times. He is also the founder and editor in chief of Near East Quarterly.

Review :
Stephen Starr explores Syria's religious and class divisions with a keen eye for personal anecdote and broad truths. He gets below the surface of this country where people often speak in half-truths and use misdirection as the first line of defense, and he knows the corruption and immobility of Syria's state institutions, but also understands why so many Syrians cling to these same institutions for stability and jobs in a region troubled by so many failed states. Starr is a deft guide to Syria in the midst of revolution. A must-read. -- Joshua M. Landis, director, Center for Middle East Studies, University of Oklahoma Stephen Starr's four-year stay in Syria as a sharp-eyed freelance journalist has given him unusual assets -- an uncommon knowledge of daily life in Damascus; an understanding of the ills of Syrian society; an extensive network of friends from different communities; and sympathetic insight into divided loyalties as the country slides ever closer to civil war. -- Patrick Seale, author of The Struggle for Arab Independence: Riad el-Solh and the Makers of the Modern Middle East Revolt in Syria is far more than a simple focus on the clash between the regime and the protestors. It explores, from a non-academic perspective, the fundamental debates that define modern Syria, from dichotomies of state and society, urban and rural, rich and poor, ethnicity and sectarianism which all contribute towards an overall narrative of suppressed discontent which is essential for understanding what fuelled anger in the first place... An important contribution to this hugely stifled subject. -- James Denselow, Huffington Post UK Written with insight and verve, this book is essential reading for anybody interested in Syria. -- Fergal Keane, BBC journalist and author of Road of Bones: The Siege of Kohima 1944 The book is an important contribution to the hugely stifled subject of Syria... Huffington Post 5/1/2012 Stephen Starr has written an extraordinary account of the uprising against the regime of Bashar al-Assad... [An] impressive and insightful eye-witness account. -- Vincent Durac Irish Times 7/21/12 Starr's book is not only an important contribution to the uprising, but also a sometimes terrifying account of the Syrian police state. -- Tam Hussein New Statesman 7/26/12 Essential reading. -- Lauren Williams The Daily Star 8/1/12