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A riveting and insightful account of Bashar al-Assad and his tyrannical regime from the author of Saddam: The Secret Life.
In Assad: The Triumph of Tyranny, veteran commentator on war in the Middle East Con Coughlin examines how a mild-mannered ophthalmic surgeon has transformed himself into the despotic 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 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, 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 has held on to power by whatever means necessary, continuing to preside over one of the most brutal regimes of modern times.
