The Nation Belongs to All: The Making of Modern Syria

FAIN: FZ-256658-17

Daniel Scott Neep
Georgetown University (Washington, DC 20057-0001)

The writing of a book-length history of modern Syria from the 19th century to the present.

The Syrian conflict is never far from the news. Yet the image of Syria presented by the media--a society so divided by religion that it has no common identity--sits at odds with how Syrians understand their country, as well as with the historical record. This book tells Syria’s untold story: the tale of an on-going, passionate struggle for justice, equality, and a better future. Whether fighting for national independence from French colonial rule, battling super-rich landowners to give impoverished peasants a fair share of the country’s wealth, or rising up against the violence, repression, and kleptomania of the Assad regime, the Syrian people have fiercely clung to their right to live with respect and dignity. The story that now needs telling is how, over the last hundred years, the protest and perseverance of the Syrian people have shaped the political destiny of their nation. “Religion belongs to God,” as the Syrian saying goes, “but the Nation belongs to All.”