Damascus was Rafik Schami’s home for 25 years before he went into exile, and he neverforgot it. This ‘Pearl of the Orient’ is still the city he loves more

The Syrian state's rhetoric of Arab nationalism left little room for the official recognition of minority identities in pre-war Syria. Yet in practice, the stat

Travel and holiday.

For the first time in the history of the planet, more than half the population - 3.3 billion people - are now living in cities. Two hundred years ago only 3 per

Marius Kociejowski is a poet, travel-writer and reviewer, who has brought a lifetime's worth of reading to this collection of writing on Syria. Collecting both