Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria

Well written history of the recently toppled Al Assad clan. The research and detail of this book is incredible, coupled with human stories

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 for a very informative book,as a Syrian I can happily confirm that it’s very accurate as I grew up in Damascus and I have witnessed the events myself. Syrian kids and future generations will learn a lot from your great effort.

Appears to be meticulously researched with plenty of confirmation references. Plenty of shocking stories even though Assad’s behaviour is well known. How the guy and his family can sleep at night is puzzling. You are also reminded of the duplicity regarding the Western States courting favour with the regime. Nobody emerges from this with any credit whatsoever.

What a shattering and brillant work. It’s a difficult narrative to weave - especially as it’s so bleak - but the humanity in Sam’s writing shines through, making the journey bearable. He gives us a record of terrible crimes, even if the prospect of justice is remote. Q

A must read for any human heart. The author has managed to capture the most important moments in the horrific war of one man against a whole country.

Assad is like Hitler. Murdering and torturing men, women and children. Shooting them, bombing them and starving them. A thoroughly evil character. Supposedly a Christian but murdering Muslims freely.

This is one of the few works on the Syrian revolution that actually sheds light on the inner workings of the Assad regime. Sam Dagher didn't write yet another 'take' on what happened, he actually did the painstaking reporting to find out what happened. The result is a masterpiece of investigative journalism that will be used by future historians and, who knows, judges, to pronounce their verdict on the destruction of a people and those responsible for it.

The war in Syria has occupied a big part of the news in recent years - still does. Ever since the frustrated "Arab Spring" exploded and was killed by the military actions of the countries where it happened - and the shameful inaction of the Western World, Syria came into the front page. From an improvised social upraising following the trend which started in Tunisia, it came to be a bloody and cruel civil war. This book is essential to understand not only this process outlined above, but the antecedents of the country since the independence from France and how it got entangled in an open war that will soon reach a full decade, and counting. The interests of the prominent local families, the characters that have played the main roles since the independence, the undercurrents of the Levant region, the relationships with neighbor countries, the role of international powers. This is all here and very well explained. It is at the same time a journalistic report and a history book, which is long but in the end it feels short. The author knows how to mix all the elements at hand to create a story that flows very easy, specially when it switches from the larger coutry movements to the friendship between the members of the families in power - essentially, the very close relationship between the Hassad and the Tlass family. It is a very, very good book.