THE DAMASCUS EVENTS

A superb account of the 1860 Damascus massacres much neglected nowadays but central to the creation of the modern Middle East Simon Sebag Montefiore A stunning portrait of the Ottoman Empire and of Damascus during a time of crisis Absolutely riveting Peter Frankopan An accessible enlightening and ultimately surprising account of an episode of which most western readers will be unaware Christopher de BellaigueThis remarkable book recreates one of the watershed moments in the history of the Middle East the ferocious outbreaks of disorder across the Levant in 1860 which resulted in the massacre of thousands of Christians in Damascus Eugene Rogan brilliantly recreates the lost world of the Middle East under Ottoman rule The once mighty empire was under pressure from global economic change and European imperial expansion Reforms in the mid nineteenth century raised tensions across the empire nowhere more so than in Damascus A multifarious city linked by caravan trade to Baghdad the Mediterranean and Mecca the chaos of languages customs and beliefs made Damascus a warily tolerant place Until the reforms began to advantage the minority Christian community at the expense of the Muslim majority But in 1860 people who had generally lived side by side for ge