MARIA DUARTE recommends the true story of the remarkable woman who sued Donald Trump for sexual assault not once, but twice
Syria Burning
by Charles Glass, Verso, £8.99
THIS reprint of Charles Glass’s 2015 book Syria Burning holds up well eight years on, as the war recedes but the country remains irretrievably broken.
The veteran journalist delves into Syria’s history, assisted by his extensive travels and interviews with Syrians, to help explain the catastrophe that befell the country.
It was already clear when the book was published eight years ago that the early hopes of protesters for a transition to democracy, an end to torture and more freedom had evolved into a brutal civil war pitting Bashar al-Assad’s fearsome intelligence services and military against foreign-funded militants who were waging a sectarian crusade against Syria’s mosaic of religious minorities.
VIJAY PRASHAD looks at the web of militias and drug-trafficking gangs that emerged in the Sweida region through the Syrian civil war, and how they relate to recent clashes and Israel’s intervention


