MIDDLE EAST
Syria   |   READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Essential Books These 4 items are available for $71, including
U.S. shipping, a 15% discount (Item no. EXSYR4)		  
Bradt Guide Syria  •  Diana Darke
GUIDEBOOK •  2010 •  PAPER  • 336 PAGES
This newly revised guide covers Syria's many cultural and historical sites as well as practical details for visiting. (SYR17, $25.99)		   Bradt Guide Syria
Syria, A Historical and Architectural Guide  •  Warwick Ball
GUIDEBOOK •  2010 •  PAPER  • 254 PAGES
With dozens of site plans, maps and a section of color photographs, Wawick Ball's compact handbook covers Syria's wealth of archaeological sites in authoritative detail. An archaeologist, Ball conveys the immense history of the ancient trading city of Damascus, perhaps the world's oldest and "already an important city when the Romans conquered it." (SYR06, $19.95)		   Syria, A Historical and Architectural Guide
The Bread of Angels  •  Stephanie Saldana
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2011 •  PAPER  • 320 PAGES
Ostensibly in Syria to study the Muslim Jesus on a Fulbright, the 26-year-old Stephanie Saldana seeks solace at a desert monastery, reads the Quran with a prominent woman scholar (a chic Shiekha), teaches at a madras -- and falls in love. Her remarkably candid memoir, full of memorable characters, is also a portrait of life in the old Christian neighborhood in Damascus, where she found a room in a crumbling courtyard complex off Straight Street (the most beautiful house in Bab Touma). (SYR20, $15.00)		   The Bread of Angels
Syria Map  •  Freytag & Berndt
2010 •  MAP
Two-sided road and tourist map of Syria that uses shaded-relief and color tinting to depict elevation. Map shows major highways and roads, rail and ferry lines, ports, distances in kilometers, natural features, campgrounds/hotels, parks, and places of interest. Includes inset of Aleppo (Halab), street and placename index, and distance chart. Street map of Damascus is on the reverse. (SYR26, $14.95)		  



Also Recommended

Culture Smart! Syria  •  Sarah Standish   • GUIDEBOOK  •  A pocket guide to local customs, etiquette and culture with a short overview of the land and people. (SYR23, $9.95)
 		  
Lonely Planet Syria & Lebanon  •  Siona Jenkins  •  Ann Jousiffe   • GUIDEBOOK  •  This practical guide in the popular series includes a terrific overview of history, culture and attractions, as well as helpful travel information. (LBN03, $22.99)
 		  
National Geographic Atlas of the Middle East  •    • REFERENCE  •  These maps graphically illustrate the history, politics, people and resources of the Middle East. With 40 photographs and 80 maps, including a two-page spread on each of the 16 nations. (MDE71, $21.95)
 		  
Places in Syria  •  Francis Russell   • GUIDEBOOK  •  Francis Russell includes 57 diverse places across Syria from the walled city of Damascus to Krak des Chevaliers, monasteries, mosques, Mameluke monuments and Ottoman-era wonders in this illustrated pocket tour. (SYR24, $24.95)
 		  
A History of the Arab Peoples  •  Albert Hourani   • HISTORY  •  Called a landmark, masterpiece and essential to understanding the Middle East, Hourani's acclaimed chronicle of the political, spiritual, religious and cultural traditions of the Arab peoples is brought up to date with an afterword by noted Islamic scholar Malise Ruthven. (MDE11, $20.00)
 		  
Damascus, Taste of a City  •  Marie Fadel  •  Rafik Schami   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT  •  With the exiled novelist in Germany and his sister at home in Damascus, the two collaborated, largely by telephone, to create this evocative ode to the city, its flavors, wit and wisdom around a cultural-culinary walking tour. With many recipes, history, gossip and lore. (SYR13, $11.95)
 		  
Dreams and Shadows, The Future of the Middle East  •  Robin B. Wright   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT  •  Wright reports on the ideas, movements and obstacles to change in this incisive portrait. With chapters on the Palestinians, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Morocco. (MDE150, $18.00)
 		  
From the Holy Mountain, A Journey Among the Christians of the Middle East  •  William Dalrymple   • RELIGION  •  In this beautifully written hymn to Eastern Christianity, Dalrymple follows the journeys of ancient monks and scholars through Istanbul, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt. (MDE49, $20.00)
 		  
Greater Syria, The History of an Ambition  •  Daniel Pipes   • HISTORY  •  A scholarly, modern history of Syria and Pan-Syrianism, from before World War I through the 1980s. (SYR09, $60.00)
 		  
Islam, The Straight Path  •  John L. Esposito   • RELIGION  •  A well-written survey of the faith, practice and beliefs of Islam. It's a balanced tone intended for an undergraduate audience, yet it also functions as an excellent overview for the general reader. (MDE22, $54.95)
 		  
Southern Frontiers, A Journey Across the Roman Empire  •  Don McCullin   • ARCHAEOLOGY  •  Roman sites, both world famous and obscure, from Syria and Lebanon across North Africa to Morocco, Algeria and Libya are presented in gorgeous black-and-white splendor in this collection of oversized photographs by the celebrated Don McCullin. Historian Barnaby Rogerson supplies the accompanying text. (MED172, $69.95)
 		  
The Desert and the Sown  •  Gertrude Bell  •  Rosemary O'Brien   • EXPLORATION  •  A fierce explorer and archaeologist, lyrical writer and cunning politician, Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) spent much of her life traveling throughout present-day Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan & Israel. (MDE59, $12.95)
 		  
Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell  •  Janet Wallach   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  A lively biography of Gertrude Bell, a Middle East adventuress, and formidable personality in colonial Britain. (MDE37, $17.00)
 		  
Empress Zenobia, Palmyra's Rebel Queen  •  Pat Southern   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  The subject of fantasy and fiction, Pat Southern's lively portrait of Empress Zenobia, the celebrated 3rd-century Queen of Palmyra (present-day Syria) hews carefully to what is known of her life and times. (SYR19, $39.95)
 		  
The Other Side of the Mirror, An American's Travels Through Syria  •  Brooke Allen   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  In this personal book, Allen shows a welcoming and courteous country with stunning ancient cities, Crusader castles and Bronze Age ruins. (SYR25, $18.95)
 		  
Damascus Nights  •  Philip Boehm  •  Rafik Schami   • LITERATURE  •  Set in Damascus in 1959 and told as a collection of seven tales, this novel recalls the glories of Syria as they fade in the face of modernism. (SYR31, $15.00)
 		  
Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled  •  Dorothy Gilman   • MYSTERY  •  A young American woman disappears in Damascus, so the CIA puts feisty grandmother Mrs. Pollifax on the case in this entertaining mystery. (MDE152, $7.99)
 		  
Syria, Through Writers' Eyes  •  Marius Kociejowski   • ANTHOLOGY  •  William Dalrymple, Barnaby Rogerson, Colin Thurbron and Gertrude Bell are all included in this absorbing collection which captures the history, people, ruins and deserts of Syria. (SYR27, $33.95)
 		  
 
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