Books for Troubled Times in the Arab World
UPDATE June 8,2011: This interesting news article compares three versions of what is happening in northern Syria, as refugees pour over the border into Turkey. And in June, 2013, the news is eve worse. Here’s a New York TImes report from the Christian Quarter of Damascus.

Destination: Damascus Syria Book: The Bread of Angels, A Journey of Love and Faith (2010) by Stephanie Saldaña For adventurous travelers who are curious about the country of Syria, Stephanie Saldaña’s book, The Bread of Angels, introduces the Syria of today (well actually 2004 and 2005). Earlier, we read a magnificent depiction of a slightly earlier Damascus in The Calligrapher’s Secret, but this book brings us closer to the present. Continue reading An American in Syria