"A fluent introduction to Syria's recent past, this book provides the backstory to the country's collapse into brutal civil conflict." --Andrew Arsan, St. John's College, University of Cambridge "McHugo uncovers uncanny parallels between the pacification strategies of the French in the 1920s and the Bashar al-Assad regime today, exposing the continuous role of violence in the region's (flawed) state formation." --Raymond Hinnebusch, director of the Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St. Andrews "I'm indebted to a short but enlightening monograph by John McHugo (chair of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine), which points out that ‘in 1919-20 . the separation of Iraq from Greater Syria was still only a division between occupation zones.'" --Robert Fisk "McHugo's book is a most welcome addition to the growing body of literature on Syria. The author expertly weaves the repercussions of a century of regional and international interference in Syrian affairs into his narrative of cause and effect regarding the tumultuous events of recent years.

" --David W. Lesch, Ewing Halsell Distinguished Professor of Middle East History, Trinity University, and author of Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad "John McHugo's Syria is an engagingly written primer on the contemporary history of Syria that is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the roots of that country's ongoing agony. His last chapter, in which he dissects sectarianism in Syria and the possible outcomes of the civil war, should be required reading for all who mistakenly believe that tribalism and primordial hatreds are the key drivers of Middle Eastern politics." --James L. Gelvin, author of The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know and The Modern Middle East: A History.