Religion and State in Syria The Sunni Ulama from Coup to Revolution

'Empirically rich and with penetrating analysis, Pierret's book provides an alternative history of modern Syrian politics, quite different from those focusing on the Ba'th regime. It challenges simplistic views about Syrian Islam and its relation to the state, showing the great complexity both of the Islamic sphere in the country and of the relations by which both the Ba'th regime and the variegated ulama and Islamists have sought to use or oppose the other.' Raymond Hinnebusch, Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St Andrews