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A History of Modern Syria
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  • Published: 28 April 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241003299
  • Imprint: Allen Lane
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 704
  • RRP: $90.00
Categories:

A History of Modern Syria

Formats & editions
Hardback
28 Apr 2026
Audiobook
29 Jan 2026
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A powerful, definitive account of modern Syria and its fate

Few countries have had as vexed a political history as Syria. Carved out of the Ottoman empire at the end of the First World War, Syria was then brutally ruled by France. This French ‘mandate’ carved out new borders with equally provisional neighbours in a process that pulled apart families, trade networks and political assumptions that had already been ravaged by the war.

Syria's subsequent history has been a series of attempts to make sense of its borders, including a failed attempt in the late 1950s to unite with Egypt and several humiliations at the hands of Israel's armed forces. The civil war that broke out in 2011 plunged Syria into a nightmarish series of disasters, including the terrible years of Islamic State, ultimately resulting in the reimposition of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship, which came to an end in 2024.

Daniel Neep’s remarkable book creates a gripping, intelligent narrative of how Syrians have lived through these events, never losing sight either of the fates of ordinary people or of Syria’s rich, complex and diverse society, unwillingly or willingly brought together in such a highly contested space.
  • Published: 28 April 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241003299
  • Imprint: Allen Lane
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 704
  • RRP: $90.00
Categories:

About the author

Daniel Neep

Daniel Neep researches politics and society in the Middle East, with a focus on Syria. He is Senior Editor at the Arab Center Washington, DC and Non-Resident Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University. He has taught Middle East politics at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, and the University of Exeter. He was previously Research Director (Syria) at the Council for British Research in the Levant and spent several years living in Syria and Jordan. He is also the author of Occupying Syria under the French Mandate: Insurgency, Space, and State Formation.
DN

Praise for A History of Modern Syria

[A] masterly narrative... Daniel Neep’s excellent, comprehensive history corrects the traditional narrative of a passive Syria by placing its people at the heart of their story.

Charles Glass, Financial Times

A timely moment for a much longer historical sweep of the country, which is what Daniel Neep provides in A History of Modern Syria. He shows that many of the issues now facing the country's leaders are by no means new... [offering] refreshing takes on familiar stories... a corrective to the lazy trope of Syria being a product of colonialism.

New Statesman

Neep’s eye for detail helps him mount challenges against some long-standing truisms... and offers insight into pressing contemporary questions including the connections between Syria's current leadership and the Islamic State... an illuminating, comprehensive study of the region.

Publisher's Weekly

For readers seeking to understand Syria's modern trajectory - scholars, students, policymakers, journalists, and engaged publics - this will become an important reference for years to come.

Reem Turkmani, Middle East Journal