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Assad or We Burn the Country

How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria

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About this listen

 From a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist specializing in the Middle East, this groundbreaking account of the Syrian Civil War reveals the never-before-published true story of a 21st-century humanitarian disaster.

In spring 2011, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turned to his friend and army commander, Manaf Tlass, for advice about how to respond to Arab Spring-inspired protests. Tlass pushed for conciliation but Assad decided to crush the uprising -- an act which would catapult the country into an eight-year long war, killing almost half a million and fueling terrorism and a global refugee crisis.

Assad or We Burn the Country examines Syria's tragedy through the generational saga of the Assad and Tlass families, once deeply intertwined and now estranged in Bashar's bloody quest to preserve his father's inheritance. By drawing on his own reporting experience in Damascus and exclusive interviews with Tlass, Dagher takes readers within palace walls to reveal the family behind the destruction of a country and the chaos of an entire region.

Dagher shows how one of the world's most vicious police states came to be and explains how a regional conflict extended globally, engulfing the Middle East and pitting the United States and Russia against one another. Timely, propulsive, and expertly reported, Assad or We Burn the Country is the definitive account of this global crisis, going far beyond the news story that has dominated headlines for years. 21st Century Corruption & Misconduct Middle East Modern Politics & Government World Iran War Civil War Military Royalty Africa Imperialism Refugee Middle Ages

Critic reviews

A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice PickThe Economist Bets Books of the YearThe Guardian Best Books of 2019Kirkus's Best Nonfiction Books of 2019
"A moving and insightful account of the Syrian civil war."—Yuval Noah Harari, The Guardian
"A vivid and powerful account of the roots and course of the conflict, setting it in the context of Assad's personal history and approach to power."—Washington Post
"Dagher draws on history, interviews and his own experience as a reporter in Syria to depict an utterly ruthless regime."—The New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice
"[An] impressively detailed account"—The Guardian US
"Sam Dagher's book Assad or We Burn the Country is a vivid and at times gruelling account of the suppression of the Syrian resistance...It is a powerful testimony of a war correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. His account carries the outrage and passion of a witness to atrocity."—Financial Times
"He was briefly held by pro-regime militiamen in an underground prison and was summarily expelled by the Mukhabarat in 2014. This gives his description of events a credibility lacking in many other accounts."—Patrick Cockburn, New York Times Book Review
"An important addition to the existing literature on the Middle East - especially Syria - by an astute Middle East watcher...It is absolutely indispensable to understand current Middle Eastern and Syrian situation."—The Washington Book Review
"An excellent book on the situation in Syria."—Former US National Security Adviser H. R.McMaster
"As with so much of Dagher's writing, what's striking about the book is it doesn't just confirm the worst that's been reported about Assad's regime in the much-maligned "mainstream media;" it unearths new ways in which the horror and criminality are in fact more terrible than previously understood."—Alex Rowell, Al-Jumhuriya
"Drawing on years of reporting and interviews with those at the top of the Syrian regime, Sam Dagher's book is one that readers won't be able to put down."—Kerry Breen, TODAY Show
"As the only Western reporter based in Damascus during the early years of the civil war, Dagher has a rich perspective on the inner machinations of the regime of Bashar al Assad. In this important book, he lays out in grim detail the staggering cynicism and ruthless brutality of the Assad family. In doing so, he provides readers with a timely description of the dynasty that precipitated the destruction of a nation."—Clarissa Ward, Chief International Correspondent, CNN International
All stars
Most relevant
Like many people I have a general interest in world affairs and news and was curious to know more about what is going on in Syria. This book was excellent - it gave a good overview of the background to the conflict going back to 1970. It explains very clearly without getting bogged down in too much detail or introducing too many characters. First you get a good insight into the internal dynamics within the country and then it's broadened to include the regional and world players. It was often very exciting and tense (the unfolding drama kind of reminded me of the Netflix series Narcos in a weird way!) Definitely recommend it to anyone who likes world affairs (or Narcos!)

excellent overview of the Syrian wat

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Sam Dagher's book is a marvelous historical and analytical journey through the last half of century of Syria and middle-east at large. Constructing the narrative by the rich tapestry of people and their fates, places and events, the book is absolutely marvelous work, giving well researched and provocative answers to some of the most important questions about probably the largest geopolitical tragedy of this Century: Syrian Civil war. Far from both the Western and Russian agendas on the conflict in Syria, the book champions to depict how the greed for power, combined with the geopolitical goals of faraway powers and the media, can effectively affect and destroy not only the entite countries and hundreds of thousands of people, but our understanding of the destruction as well and may push the ordinary thinking person to revere the mass murderer as the champion of rights and stability, completely omitting the fact that problem solvers sometimes are the primary reasons behind why that problem exists at first hand. Masterpiece.

Mesmerizing Non-Fiction about the greatest geopolitical tragedy of 21st Century

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This is THE book to read by anyone interested in knowing the full truth about what’s happening in Syria and how a bloody,manipulative and ruthless dictator managed to destroy his own country, killing over a million innocent civilians and displacing over 10 millions of Syrians. It takes you deep into the psychological characteristics of the psychopath called Bashar Al Assad and his brutal quest to prove that he is not dumb,irrelevant or insignificant only for the reader to come to a conclusion that indeed he is. This is a historically accurate and sad story of a beautiful country turned into a battleground for conflicting agendas and ideologies fuelled by an evil regime which will forever be remembered in history with the likes of Hitler and Stalin. Thank you Sam,Syrian kids and future generations will learn a lot from your great effort.

Fascinating, accurate and informative

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Tragic and terrifying story, peopled with some pretty odious people. Sadly,(to say the least),the dictator's Ugly-on-the-inside British born wife seems to fit in well.

The Assads make the average Mafia family likeable

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Now I have an understanding of what happened in Syria and how geopolitics trumped morality. A captivating book with excellent narration. Recommended!

A lesson in geopolitics

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