Assad or We Burn the Country

How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria

By: Sam Dagher

Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann

From a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist specializing in the Middle East, this groundbreaking account of the Syrian Civil War reveals the never-before-published true story of a 21st-century humanitarian disaster.

In spring 2011, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turned to his friend and army commander, Manaf Tlass, for advice about how to respond to Arab Spring-inspired protests. Tlass pushed for conciliation but Assad decided to crush the uprising -- an act which would catapult the country into an eight-year long war, killing almost half a million and fueling terrorism and a global refugee crisis.

Assad or We Burn the Country examines Syria's tragedy through the generational saga of the Assad and Tlass families, once deeply intertwined and now estranged in Bashar's bloody quest to preserve his father's inheritance. By drawing on his own reporting experience in Damascus and exclusive interviews with Tlass, Dagher takes readers within palace walls to reveal the family behind the destruction of a country and the chaos of an entire region.

Dagher shows how one of the world's most vicious police states came to be and explains how a regional conflict extended globally, engulfing the Middle East and pitting the United States and Russia against one another. Timely, propulsive, and expertly reported, Assad or We Burn the Country is the definitive account of this global crisis, going far beyond the news story that has dominated headlines for years.

Critic reviews

A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice PickThe Economist Bets Books of the YearThe Guardian Best Books of 2019Kirkus's Best Nonfiction Books of 2019

"A moving and insightful account of the Syrian civil war."—Yuval Noah Harari, The Guardian

"A vivid and powerful account of the roots and course of the conflict, setting it in the context of Assad's personal history and approach to power."—Washington Post

"Dagher draws on history, interviews and his own experience as a reporter in Syria to depict an utterly ruthless regime."—The New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice

"[An] impressively detailed account"—The Guardian US

"Sam Dagher's book Assad or We Burn the Country is a vivid and at times gruelling account of the suppression of the Syrian resistance...It is a powerful testimony of a war correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. His account carries the outrage and passion of a witness to atrocity."—Financial Times

"He was briefly held by pro-regime militiamen in an underground prison and was summarily expelled by the Mukhabarat in 2014. This gives his description of events a credibility lacking in many other accounts."—Patrick Cockburn, New York Times Book Review

"An important addition to the existing literature on the Middle East - especially Syria - by an astute Middle East watcher...It is absolutely indispensable to understand current Middle Eastern and Syrian situation."—The Washington Book Review

"An excellent book on the situation in Syria."—Former US National Security Adviser H. R.McMaster

"As with so much of Dagher's writing, what's striking about the book is it doesn't just confirm the worst that's been reported about Assad's regime in the much-maligned "mainstream media;" it unearths new ways in which the horror and criminality are in fact more terrible than previously understood."—Alex Rowell, Al-Jumhuriya

"Drawing on years of reporting and interviews with those at the top of the Syrian regime, Sam Dagher's book is one that readers won't be able to put down."—Kerry Breen, TODAY Show

"As the only Western reporter based in Damascus during the early years of the civil war, Dagher has a rich perspective on the inner machinations of the regime of Bashar al Assad. In this important book, he lays out in grim detail the staggering cynicism and ruthless brutality of the Assad family. In doing so, he provides readers with a timely description of the dynasty that precipitated the destruction of a nation."—Clarissa Ward, Chief International Correspondent, CNN International

Good primer on Syria today (2020)

This is a great overview of the Syrian revolution from an anti-Assad perspective. Detailed in just the right parts to give an understanding of the situation in Syria post Arab Spring, without bogging itself down with an expanded explanation of the conflicts in South Western Asia. Pro-Assad listeners will find support for claims limited to mostly western sources.

Personally I would’ve preferred more about the involvement of the people of Kurdistan and Rojava, but that’s not what the book claims to be so it’s not something I can fault it for. Overall good book, and I recommend it before you have any sort of conversation of Syria, Assad, or civil strife.

Be safe, take care of yourself.

Excellent review of the worst 21st genocide

Sam performed a thorough dissection study for the factors that led to the quagmire called the Syrian crisis.

For anyone who is interested to know what happened there, this book is the Bible that you should look for.

Thank you Sam!

Excellent book

This is an excellent recount of what has been happening in Syria in the past 50 years. The book is fair and based on facts and kept me intrigued.

The Gangsters of Russia, Iran & Syria

Any person with a sliver of compassion will be sickened with this work, which exposes an axis of evil, that Adolph Hitler would be proud of. There is a special place in hell for the men who organized these crimes against humanity.
I highly recommend this work….

Eye opening insight

A little long winded and winding at times, but truly an eye opening look into one of the worlds most interesting regions and modern dictatorships