Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria

When the convulsions of the Arab Spring first became manifest in Syria in March 2011, the Baathist regime was quick to blame the protests on the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and its al-Qaeda affiliates. But who are these Islamists so determined to rule a post-Assad Syria? Little has been published on [...]
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When the convulsions of the Arab Spring first became manifest in Syria in March 2011, the Baathist regime was quick to blame the protests on the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and its al-Qaeda affiliates. But who are these Islamists so determined to rule a post-Assad Syria? Little has been published on militant Islam in Syria since Hafez Assads regime destroyed the Islamist movement in its stronghold of Hama in February 1982. This book bridges that gap by providing readers with the first comprehensive account of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhoods history to date. In this ground-breaking account of Syrias most prominent, yet highly secretive, Islamist organisation, the author draws on previously untapped sources: the memoirs of former Syrian jihadists; British and American archives; and also a series of wide-ranging interviews with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhoods historical leaders as well as those who battled against them--many speaking on the record for the first time. Ashes of Hama uncovers the major aspects of the Islamist struggle: from the Brotherhoods radicalisation and its jihad against the Baathist regime and subsequent exile, to a spectacular comeback at the forefront of the Syrian revolution in 2011--a remarkable turnaround for an Islamist movement which all analysts had pronounced dead amid the ruins of Hama in 1982.