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Syria's Secret Library

Syria's Secret Library PDF Author: Mike Thomson
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1541767616
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
The remarkable story of a small, makeshift library in the town of Daraya, and the people who found hope and humanity in its books during a four-year siege. Daraya lies on the fringe of Damascus, just southwest of the Syrian capital. Yet for four years it lived in another world. Besieged by government forces early in the Syrian Civil War, its people were deprived of food, bombarded by heavy artillery, and under the constant fire of snipers. But deep beneath this scene of frightening devastation lay a hidden library. While the streets above echoed with shelling and rifle fire, the secret world below was a haven of books. Long rows of well-thumbed volumes lined almost every wall: bloated editions with grand leather covers, pocket-sized guides to Syrian poetry, and no-nonsense reference books, all arranged in well-ordered lines. But this precious horde was not bought from publishers or loaned by other libraries--they were the books salvaged and scavenged at great personal risk from the doomed city above. The story of this extraordinary place and the people who found purpose and refuge in it is one of hope, human resilience, and above all, the timeless, universal love of literature and the compassion and wisdom it fosters.

Syria's Secret Library

Syria's Secret Library PDF Author: Mike Thomson
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1541767616
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
The remarkable story of a small, makeshift library in the town of Daraya, and the people who found hope and humanity in its books during a four-year siege. Daraya lies on the fringe of Damascus, just southwest of the Syrian capital. Yet for four years it lived in another world. Besieged by government forces early in the Syrian Civil War, its people were deprived of food, bombarded by heavy artillery, and under the constant fire of snipers. But deep beneath this scene of frightening devastation lay a hidden library. While the streets above echoed with shelling and rifle fire, the secret world below was a haven of books. Long rows of well-thumbed volumes lined almost every wall: bloated editions with grand leather covers, pocket-sized guides to Syrian poetry, and no-nonsense reference books, all arranged in well-ordered lines. But this precious horde was not bought from publishers or loaned by other libraries--they were the books salvaged and scavenged at great personal risk from the doomed city above. The story of this extraordinary place and the people who found purpose and refuge in it is one of hope, human resilience, and above all, the timeless, universal love of literature and the compassion and wisdom it fosters.

Nour's Secret Library

Nour's Secret Library PDF Author: Wafa' Tarnowska
Publisher: Barefoot Books
ISBN: 1646863496
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36

Book Description
Forced to take shelter when their Syrian city is plagued with bombings, young Nour and her cousin begin to bravely build a secret underground library. Based on the author’s own life experience and inspired by a true story, Nour’s Secret Library is about the power of books to heal, transport and create safe spaces during difficult times. Illustrations by Romanian artist Vali Mintzi superimpose the colorful world the children construct over black-and-white charcoal depictions of the battered city.

The Book Collectors of Daraya

The Book Collectors of Daraya PDF Author: Delphine Minoui
Publisher: Picador
ISBN: 9781529012330
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description


Shadow Strike

Shadow Strike PDF Author: Yaakov Katz
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250191270
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
A 2019 National Jewish Book Award Finalist "At the top of my reading list." —Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School "Reads like an international thriller, but it is actually a compelling factual day-by-day (and sometimes hour-by-hour) account of an incident of acute threat and decisive action by the Jewish state...". —Jonathan Kirsch, Jewish Journal Review The never-before-told inside story of how Israel stopped Syria from becoming a global nuclear nightmare—and its far-reaching implications On September 6, 2007, shortly after midnight, Israeli fighters advanced on Deir ez-Zour in Syria. Israel often flew into Syria as a warning to President Bashar al-Assad. But this time, there was no warning and no explanation. This was a covert operation, with one goal: to destroy a nuclear reactor being built by North Korea under a tight veil of secrecy in the Syrian desert. Shadow Strike tells, for the first time, the story of the espionage, political courage, military might and psychological warfare behind Israel’s daring operation to stop one of the greatest known acts of nuclear proliferation. It also brings Israel’s powerful military and diplomatic alliance with the United States to life, revealing the debates President Bush had with Vice President Cheney and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as well as the diplomatic and military planning that took place in the Oval Office, the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, and inside the IDF’s underground war room beneath Tel Aviv. These two countries remain united in a battle to prevent nuclear proliferation, to defeat Islamic terror, and to curtail Iran’s attempts to spread its hegemony throughout the Middle East. Yaakov Katz's Shadow Strike explores how this operation continues to impact the world we live in today and if what happened in 2007 is a sign of what Israel will need to do one day to stop Iran's nuclear program. It also asks: had Israel not carried out this mission, what would the Middle East look like today?

The Alex Crow

The Alex Crow PDF Author: Andrew Smith
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698145836
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
“Andrew Smith is the Kurt Vonnegut of YA . . . [Smith’s novels] are the freshest, richest, and weirdest books to hit the YA world in years.” —Entertainment Weekly Skillfully blending multiple story strands that transcend time and place, award-winning Grasshopper Jungle author Andrew Smith chronicles the story of Ariel, a refugee who is the sole survivor of an attack on his small village. Now living with an adoptive family in Sunday, West Virginia, Ariel's story is juxtaposed against those of a schizophrenic bomber and the diaries of a failed arctic expedition from the late nineteenth century . . . and a depressed, bionic reincarnated crow.

No Knives in the Kitchens of this City

No Knives in the Kitchens of this City PDF Author: Khālid Khalīfah
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9774167813
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Book Description
WINNER OF THE NAQUIB MAHFOUZ MEDAL FOR LITERATURE In the once beautiful city of Aleppo, one family descends into ruin in this novel from "one of the rising stars of Arab fiction" (New York Times) Irrepressible Sawsan flirts with militias, the ruling party, and finally religion, seeking but never finding salvation. She and her siblings and mother are slowly choked in violence and decay, as their lives are plundered by a brutal regime. Set between the 1960s and 2000s, No Knives in the Kitchens of this City unravels the systems of fear and control under Assad. With eloquence and startling honesty, it speaks of the persecution of a whole society.

Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie

Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie PDF Author: Malu Halasa
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 9780811864589
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 182

Book Description
The most outrageous and exuberant lingerie in the world comes from a place youd probably never expect: Syria. Adorned with everything from faux fur, artificial flowers, and feathered birds to plastic toy cell phones, these intimates flash lights, play music, even vibrate. Well known across the Middle Eastin Syria the lingerie forms an important part of the folk tradition around trousseaus and weddingsit is openly displayed in the markets and souks. Authors Malu Halasa and Rana Salam have brought together a diverse and dramatic collection of photography and writing, including the voices of Syrian women, celebrating this little-known niche of fashion design in all its playful glory.

Damascus Station: A Novel

Damascus Station: A Novel PDF Author: David McCloskey
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393881059
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 347

Book Description
Finalist for the 2022 ITW Thriller Award for Best First Novel "Damascus Station is simply marvelous storytelling.…[A] stand-out thriller and essential reading for fans of the genre." —Financial Times A CIA officer and his recruit arrive in war-ravaged Damascus to hunt for a killer in this page-turner that offers the "most authentic depiction of modern-day tradecraft in print." (Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr). CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad’s recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy. But the cat and mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime, bringing the pair under the all-seeing eyes of Assad’s spy catcher, Ali Hassan, and his brother Rustum, the head of the feared Republican Guard. Set against the backdrop of a Syria pulsing with fear and rebellion, Damascus Station is a gripping thriller that offers a textured portrayal of espionage, love, loyalty, and betrayal in one of the most difficult CIA assignments on the planet.

Secret War in the Middle East

Secret War in the Middle East PDF Author: Andrew Rathmell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
Covert action and terrorism have played major roles in the politics of the Middle East. It is impossible to comprehend the intricacies of regional politics without an understanding of the covert machinations that lie beneath the surface. This pioneering work is an in-depth study of the role of covert action in Syrian politics and foreign relations between 1949 and 1961. Topics covered include the role of foreign governments in manipulating Syria's numerous military coups starting with Husni al-Za'im's in 1949; the covert struggle to remove Adib al-Shishakli which culminated in his overthrow in 1954; the conflicts in the late 1950s between Syrian politicians and officers that dragged in the spymasters of the United States, Britain, the USSR, France, Iraq and Saudi Arabia; the consolidation of power in Syria by security chief Abd al-Hamid Sarraj and his covert battles with Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq from 1957 onwards. Throughout the book, particular attention is paid to the role of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

Red Line

Red Line PDF Author: Joby Warrick
Publisher: Doubleday
ISBN: 0385544472
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
In Red Line, Joby Warrick, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Black Flags, shares the thrilling unknown story of America’s mission in Syria: to find and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons and keep them out of the hands of the Islamic State. In August 2012, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was clinging to power in a vicious civil war. When secret intelligence revealed that the dictator might resort to using chemical weapons, President Obama warned that doing so would cross “a red line.” Assad did it anyway, bombing the Damascus suburb of Ghouta with sarin gas, killing hundreds of civilians, and forcing Obama to decide if he would mire America in another unpopular war in the Middle East. When Russia offered to broker the removal of Syria’s chemical weapons, Obama leapt at the out. So began an electrifying race to find, remove, and destroy 1,300 tons of chemical weapons in the midst of a raging civil war. The extraordinary little-known effort is a triumph for the Americans, but soon Russia’s long game becomes clear: it will do anything to preserve Assad’s rule. As America’s ability to control events in Syria shrinks, the White House learns that ISIS, building its caliphate in Syria’s war-tossed territory, is seeking chemical weapons for itself, with an eye to attack the West. Drawing on astonishing original reporting, Warrick crafts a character-driven narrative that reveals how the United States embarked on a bold adventure to prevent one catastrophe but could not avoid a tragic chain of events that led to another.