Civil war, refugee crisis, terrorism — over the past decade, Syria, crushed beneath an absurd and ruthless tyranny, has too often made headlines for reasons unworthy of its millennia-old legacy of grandeur, refinement, and learning.

Yet this blessed land — cradle of an exquisite civilization, seat of the mightiest of the caliphates, and stage of the triumphs of more than one illustrious dynasty — holds a truly unique place in the annals of the Muslim world, and indeed, of humanity itself.

This book retraces the astonishingly rich and eventful history of Bilād al-Shām, from the Muslim conquest of the seventh century to the fall of the Assad regime — a tribute to a people of extraordinary resilience who, through the most harrowing trials, have always found the strength to rise again.