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A History of Modern Syria
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.
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.
686 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 29, 2026
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February 24, 2026
First, I should thank the publisher for providing me with an early read.
Second, Syria: A Modern History by Daniel Neep is a landmark, sweeping political history of Syria from the late Ottoman period through the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime in late 2024. To me, it is an essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the country and its people. The author, Daniel Neep, is known to researchers and journalists: this is his second book on Syria; his first, Occupying Syria under the French Mandate, established his credentials as a scholar of Syrian political history.
The book spans nearly two centuries, tracing Syria's formation from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, through the brutal French Mandate period that carved artificial borders and tore apart families and trade networks, through successive military coups, the failed 1950s union with Egypt, humiliations at the hands of Israel, the Assad dynasty's decades of dictatorship, the catastrophic civil war from 2011, the rise and fall of the Islamic State, and ultimately the implosion of Bashar al-Assad's rule.
Second, Syria: A Modern History by Daniel Neep is a landmark, sweeping political history of Syria from the late Ottoman period through the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime in late 2024. To me, it is an essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the country and its people. The author, Daniel Neep, is known to researchers and journalists: this is his second book on Syria; his first, Occupying Syria under the French Mandate, established his credentials as a scholar of Syrian political history.
The book spans nearly two centuries, tracing Syria's formation from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, through the brutal French Mandate period that carved artificial borders and tore apart families and trade networks, through successive military coups, the failed 1950s union with Egypt, humiliations at the hands of Israel, the Assad dynasty's decades of dictatorship, the catastrophic civil war from 2011, the rise and fall of the Islamic State, and ultimately the implosion of Bashar al-Assad's rule.
Displaying 1 of 1 review