The Crossing

Powerful insight into the effects of civil war on the Syrian people and why so many are desperate to flee, by award-winning Syrian journalist.'ONE OF THE FIRST POLITICAL CLASSICS OF THE 21st CENTURY'- Observer'EXTRAORDINARILY POWERFUL, POIGNANT AND AFFECTING. I WAS GREATLY MOVED' Michael PalinFOREWORD BY CHRISTINA LAMBJournalist Samar Yazbek was forced into exile by Assad's regime. When the uprising in Syria turned to bloodshed, she was determined to take action and secretly returned several times. The Crossing is her rare, powerful and courageous testament to what she found inside the borders of her homeland.From the first peaceful protests for democracy to the arrival of ISIS, she bears witness to those struggling to survive, to the humanity that can flower amidst annihilation, and why so many are now desperate to flee.

“"Powerful and moving. . . bears comparison with George Orwell's Homage To Catalonia as a work of literature, Yazbek is a superb narrator. . . it may be that [she] has written one of the first political classics of the 21st century." -- Observer”

Powerful and moving…bears comparison with George Orwell’s Homage To Catalonia as a work of literature, Yazbek is a superb narrator…it may be that [she] has written one of the first political classics of the 21st century Observer
Brave, rebellious and passionate…Yazbek is no ordinary Syrian dissident Financial Times
An eloquent, gripping and harrowing account of the country’s decline into barbarism by an incredibly brave Syrian Irish Times
Gripping... Does the important job of putting faces to the numbing numbers of Syria’s crisis... Economist
Sheds valuable light on day-to-day life inside Syria, something of which we know little…a sobering glimpse of the wreckage that will be discovered when the war is over Sunday Times
Harrowing…a chilling account of the brutality faced by people living in Syria… Daily Mail (Online)
It bears comparison with George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia as a work of literature. Yazbek is a superb narrator who knows how to pace her text, craft dialogue and convey a universal sense of grief; this is how she crosses the line from journalism to high literary art Guardian
Perhaps the finest single account of Syria's revolution New Internationalist
I much admire Samar for her literary skill, and her bravery -- Carol Ann Duffy

Born in 1970, Samar Yazbek studied literature before beginning her career as a journalist and a scriptwriter for Syrian television and cinema. Her translated work includes the novel, Cinnamon, and A Woman In The Crossfire, her diaries of the first four months of the Syrian uprising, which has won many prizes. She lives in Paris.

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