naverhtrad's review
3.0
Syria Burning is a book with considerable promise that could have stood another couple of rounds of editing. Author Charles Glass presents us with a wealth of historical wisdom and trenchant political analysis, but the effect of it all gets somewhat lost on account of the rather poor organisation. The book reads like it was pieced together from snippets of a war diary and bits and pieces of historical tableaux, and that it may very well have been. Glass certainly does not lack for on-the-ground bona fides or genuine connexions to the place he writes about, built over a decades-long stringer journalist career. As such, despite the lack of structured focus even within each chapter which ranges from bemusing to infuriating, it is very much well worth reading in full.
Glass, of Lebanese Christian descent, is self-avowedly an old-school secular leftist who truly believes in, and loves, democracy and the promise of it that was extended to the Lebanese people in the 1960's and 1970's. As such, his political sympathies and commitments as concern the actors in Syria's failed revolution are not at all difficult to gauge. On the other hand, Glass seems to come off strongest when he unaccountably gives voice to these little pearls of equally old-school conservative realist wisdom. He holds forth with power on the unintended consequences of social revolt and the inescapable tragedies of armed warfare in its defence. Glass's deep historical awareness about the region yields a perspective rich in irony, but - make no mistake - he is also thoroughly and genuinely outraged by the interference of foreign powers in Syria from every side who are committed to escalating the conflict to suit their own goals but care nothing for everyday ordinary Arabs of whatever creed.
Again, this is a book that is steeped in a great wealth of first-hand knowledge about the region, and has a good deal to offer folks who are not versed in it. If you can handle the rather scattershot approach to Syria's recent (as well as ancient and proximate-modern) history, then it's well worth perusing and learning from.
Glass, of Lebanese Christian descent, is self-avowedly an old-school secular leftist who truly believes in, and loves, democracy and the promise of it that was extended to the Lebanese people in the 1960's and 1970's. As such, his political sympathies and commitments as concern the actors in Syria's failed revolution are not at all difficult to gauge. On the other hand, Glass seems to come off strongest when he unaccountably gives voice to these little pearls of equally old-school conservative realist wisdom. He holds forth with power on the unintended consequences of social revolt and the inescapable tragedies of armed warfare in its defence. Glass's deep historical awareness about the region yields a perspective rich in irony, but - make no mistake - he is also thoroughly and genuinely outraged by the interference of foreign powers in Syria from every side who are committed to escalating the conflict to suit their own goals but care nothing for everyday ordinary Arabs of whatever creed.
Again, this is a book that is steeped in a great wealth of first-hand knowledge about the region, and has a good deal to offer folks who are not versed in it. If you can handle the rather scattershot approach to Syria's recent (as well as ancient and proximate-modern) history, then it's well worth perusing and learning from.
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