THE countries of the Middle East were conceived mainly by the French and British after 1917, or misconceived. Independent Syria found itself in existence when the British expelled the French at the end of the Great War, but it was the Syrians themselves, or at least the vested interests and elites, who struggled to make it a state. It was only when Hafez al-Assad seized power that most of the institutions of statehood came into being, with massive oppression and unspeakable violence against the Syrian people.

In writing Syria’s modern history, Daniel Neep leaves some lacunae: neither Lawrence of Arabia nor CIA involvement in Husni Zaim’s coup are mentioned, nor much of the ordinary lives of the people. The millions of Christians hardly get a mention, either. But it is a full and detailed narrative of how the old elites were removed by the revolutionaries, of struggles to build a state not helped when the intelligent and brutal Hafez al-Assad was creating a country, having a poor grasp of economics.

Violence and brutality are a constant leitmotif. Some pages are unbearable to read. When Hafez died, those of us in Syria saw a time of hope, of the possibilities of civil society and an end to endemic corruption and state violence, but the evil that Hafez did lived after him, and the seeds of the catastrophe were watered by his son Bashar. Born in poverty, Hafez practised his cruelty against the background of a genuine concern for the peasant and worker, the redistribution of wealth, and provision of education, water, and roads by the State, whereas his palace-born son wanted a market economy, smart malls, and boutique hotels to enrich his family and allies. Bashar had a total failure to grasp what happens in a country of skilful artisans when the markets are flooded with cheap imports, and this at a time of continuous drought. Bashar was as intransigent with his allies, Iran and Russia, as he was with his own people, with no redeeming features.

So, Neep has written an important book with much detail and many insights — not least concerning the flawed characters of so many political players over the century, but also the poisonous issue of Israel. It was the humiliation of the 1967 and 1973 wars, and the betrayal of Arab leaders of the Palestinian cause which brought Hafez to power, and Israeli aggression led to his invasion of Lebanon, a source of huge corruption in Syria.

Neep offers us a powerful narrative, well written and well worth reading. The new President Ahmed al-Sharaa will, let us hope, do a better job of making and healing Syria.

The Revd Stephen Griffith is a retired Anglican priest. He specialises in Syria and the Syriac community in Turabdin.

A History of Modern Syria
Daniel Neep
Allen Lane £40
(978-0-241-00329-9)
Church Times Bookshop £36