Assad
The Triumph of Tyranny
Con Coughlin
- 'Engrossing
- .
- .
- .
- has
- the
- vice-like
- grip
- of
- a
- thriller'
- -
- The
- Telegraph'Fascinating,
- timely
- and
- sharp'
- -
- Simon
- Sebag
- MontefioreIn
- Assad:
- The
- Triumph
- of
- Tyranny,
- Con
- Coughlin,
- veteran
- commentator
- on
- war
- in
- the
- Middle
- East
- and
- author
- of
- Saddam:
- The
- Secret
- Life,
- examines
- how
- a
- mild-mannered
- ophthalmic
- surgeon
- transformed
- himself
- into
- the
- tyrannical
- ruler
- of
- a
- once
- flourishing
- country.Until
- the
- Arab
- Spring
- of
- 2011,
- the
- world’s
- view
- of
- Bashar
- al-Assad
- was
- largely
- benign.
- He
- and
- his
- wife,
- a
- former
- British
- banker,
- were
- viewed
- as
- philanthropic
- individuals
- doing
- their
- best
- to
- keep
- their
- country
- at
- peace.
- So
- much
- so
- that
- a
- profile
- of
- Mrs
- Assad
- in
- American
- Vogue
- was
- headlined
- ‘The
- Rose
- in
- the
- Desert’.
- Shortly
- after
- it
- appeared,
- Syria
- descended
- into
- the
- horrific
- civil
- war
- that
- has
- seen
- its
- cities
- reduced
- to
- rubble
- and
- thousands
- murdered
- and
- displaced,
- a
- civil
- war
- that
- is
- still
- raging
- over
- a
- decade
- later.In
- this
- vivid
- and
- authoritative
- account
- Con
- Coughlin
- draws
- together
- all
- the
- strands
- of
- Assad's
- remarkable
- story,
- revealing
- precisely
- how
- a
- young
- doctor
- ensured
- not
- only
- that
- he
- inherited
- the
- presidency
- from
- his
- father,
- but
- held
- on
- to
- power
- to
- preside
- over
- one
- of
- the
- most
- brutal
- regimes
- of
- modern times.
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