Alan George has worked as a freelancejournalist and researcher, contributing to a wide range of UK and internationalpublications including the Observer,the Independent and Private Eye in the UK.

'A devastating critique of one-party rule and unchecked power, and a stirring vindication of Syria's courageous civil society movement' - Rana Kabbani 'Alan George has managed to combine journalistic immediacy with academic reflection to great effect in this fascinating study of modern Syria. Based, as it is, on personal interviews with Syrians directly involved in contemporary developments there, as well as on an awareness of the Syrian reality developed over many years, this book illuminates the real crisis that Syria faces as it tries to restructure the monolithic legacy of the late President Hafidh al-Assad' - George Joffe, Centre for International Studies, Cambridge University

Alan George has worked as a freelancejournalist and researcher, contributing to a wide range of UK and internationalpublications including the Observer,the Independent and Private Eye in the UK.

'A devastating critique of one-party rule and unchecked power, and a stirring vindication of Syria's courageous civil society movement' - Rana Kabbani 'Alan George has managed to combine journalistic immediacy with academic reflection to great effect in this fascinating study of modern Syria. Based, as it is, on personal interviews with Syrians directly involved in contemporary developments there, as well as on an awareness of the Syrian reality developed over many years, this book illuminates the real crisis that Syria faces as it tries to restructure the monolithic legacy of the late President Hafidh al-Assad' - George Joffe, Centre for International Studies, Cambridge University