Distributed for Haus Publishing
My House in Damascus
An Inside View of the Syrian Crisis
New edition
How did Syria’s revolution reach this its current boiling point? And what’s next? This updated edition of My House in Damascus offers an insider’s view on these questions and the darker recesses of Syria’s history, politics, and society.
Diana Darke, a fluent Arabic speaker who moved to Damascus in 2004 after decades of regular visits, details how the Assad regime, and its relationship to the people, differs from the regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya—and why it was thus always less likely to collapse quickly, even in the face of widespread unrest and violence. Through the author’s firsthand experiences of buying and restoring a house in the old city of Damascus, which she later offered as a sanctuary to friends, Darke presents a clear picture of the realities of life on the ground and what hope there is for Syria’s future. Including additional material on topics like the advance of the Islamic State, as well as a new epilogue describing the current turmoil surrounding her house and the refugees she tried to help, this edition of My House in Damascus powerfully documents the human cost of the ongoing civil war.
Diana Darke, a fluent Arabic speaker who moved to Damascus in 2004 after decades of regular visits, details how the Assad regime, and its relationship to the people, differs from the regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya—and why it was thus always less likely to collapse quickly, even in the face of widespread unrest and violence. Through the author’s firsthand experiences of buying and restoring a house in the old city of Damascus, which she later offered as a sanctuary to friends, Darke presents a clear picture of the realities of life on the ground and what hope there is for Syria’s future. Including additional material on topics like the advance of the Islamic State, as well as a new epilogue describing the current turmoil surrounding her house and the refugees she tried to help, this edition of My House in Damascus powerfully documents the human cost of the ongoing civil war.
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Table of Contents
Preface
1. Worlds of Conflict and Harmony
2. Unescorted
3. Escorted
4. Nobody’s Poodle
5. Into the Unknown
6. The Dead Auntie
7. Insurance Against Fate?
8. Revelations
9. Friends and Brides
10. The Donkey Between Two Carrots
11. The Law and Educational Corruption
12. Completion and the Caretaker
13. No Return
14. Monasteries and Desperation
15. Thugs and Tamerlane
16. The Triumph of Asabiyya
17. Future Imperfect and Perfect
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Cast of Characters
A Note on the Choice of Clarity
1. Worlds of Conflict and Harmony
2. Unescorted
3. Escorted
4. Nobody’s Poodle
5. Into the Unknown
6. The Dead Auntie
7. Insurance Against Fate?
8. Revelations
9. Friends and Brides
10. The Donkey Between Two Carrots
11. The Law and Educational Corruption
12. Completion and the Caretaker
13. No Return
14. Monasteries and Desperation
15. Thugs and Tamerlane
16. The Triumph of Asabiyya
17. Future Imperfect and Perfect
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Cast of Characters
A Note on the Choice of Clarity