Damascus: A History (Cities of the Ancient World)

I have at least 50 books on Damascus/Syria and other than Bridget Keenen's book which has a fabulous gossipy style - ideal to read before bed, this is the most beautifully put together book on Damascus - fabulous photographs and real scholarship - you can almost smell it.

This is exactly what I hoped for in a history of an ancient city: Burns discusses not only the political and military events in the history of Damascus, but also the economic, cultural, social, and physical changes. In this way, the reader generally has, at any point in time, a good grasp of what the city's social and ethnic divisions were, of who were the political elites, of which neighborhoods and monuments existed and how they came to be, not to mention the varied (and sometimes sparse) sources we must rely on for this information and what limits they impose on our knowledge. The author's style is, in my opinion, easy-to-read and engaging, and despite its moderate length the book is deeply informative throughout. It's a perfect summarizing history, and an excellent read if you were to visit Damascus itself, as it will give you an excellent idea of what can and cannot be seen today of the city's past, and what its surviving monuments mean. However, it should be noted that the author chooses to end his narrative at the fall of the Ottoman Empire in WWI, and so if you're looking for a history of Damascus or Syria in the 20th century, you'll need something else. Otherwise, given the city's extremely long history, this doesn't come across as a real shortcoming. There are various useful black-and-white pictures throughout (mainly of monuments), and some great maps (again useful if you wished to visit the city's historical monuments).

I bought this book because I wanted to learn more about Damascus during Roman and early Christian days. The book covers those periods very well, from Pompey's conquest of Syria in 64 B.C. to the fall of Damascus to the Persians in A.D. 612. The author's grasp of the social, economic, religious, political, and military influences during these periods is truly phenomenal. He also does a fabulous job of recreating and describing the layout and architecture of the city during the different periods, with great maps of the city in the various periods, and drawings showing recreations of important architectural features, as well as many photos of current features. Many of the maps are superimposed on the modern city plan for greater understanding of how the ancient city matches up with the modern city. All of this information is presented in a very readable and interesting way. I was so impressed, I couldn't help but read the rest of the book, which was just as excellent! The depth of scholarship underlying this book is evident at every turn of the page. Truly an outstanding and fascinating work. Highly recommended!

"Damascus A History" is a book for all those who love Damascus or those who heard of its fame since ancient times. I myself lived in Damascus for fourteen years and can very much attest to the veracity of the book. I was enchanted most by the old section of the city which is now protected as a national heritage. The book is comprehensive in that it showcases the city throughout all ages with illustrations that are extremely informative.I would like to highlight a statement that the author wrote at the end of his book which will ring true for ever "Without venturing into too many fanciful 'what ifs',it seems reasonable to suggest that without Damascus, neither Christianity nor Islam would exist in their current forms as great world faiths." I simply say that this book will satisfy both the scholar and the layman.

Good for the 20th century not much before that. Some but not a lot.

Scholarly but still accessible to those of us who are not historians or archaeologists. I wish I had had a copy with me when I was in Damascus last year. I would have liked some of the maps to have been bigger.