Providing background and context to the current civil war in Syria, this book starts with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the division of the region between the French and the British in the 1920s and examines the legacy of colonial rule. The policies of the Assads, father and son, throughout their 50-year dictatorship are scrutinized, and the impact of the Cold War, the Arab–Israeli conflict and the rise of ISIL are assessed.