Americans have seen the cinematic sweep of 20th Century Middle Eastern history in the film Lawrence of Arabia. Until now, however, it was impossible for lay readers or even non-specialist scholars to know the individual men and women who lived out the historical drama that began with the Arab Revolt depicted in the film.

Sami Moubayed has written a meticulously researched history, yet the book as a whole reads like a vast Dostoevsky novel. The author illustrates the corruption, decay, and brutality of the crumbling Ottoman empire; the snuffing out of  indigenous Arab democracy by treacherous and cynical European powers after World War I; the pain of defeated insurgency in the 1920s; the hope of freedom after independence in 1946 followed by the humiliation of military defeat at the hands of Israel in 1948; the blossoming of democracy, until a CIA-inspired military coups and multiple counter-coups set the stage for long term dictatorial rule in 1963.

Through the lives of Moubayed's characters you see the destruction of a medieval landholding system and the redistribution of land. You see roads and power and water systems extended into the remote countryside. You see enormous public works projects that turn swamps into farmland and bring water to desert and steppe. You see the creation of a national education system that brings the sons and daughters of ordinary Syrians to power and prominence. You also see what many critics would term the cultural and economic stagnation that came with one party rule.

Syria has led the Arab World in many ways for the past 100 years. It was the headquarters of the Arab nationalist movement in the 1910s and among the region’s earliest and most vibrant democracies in 1918. Legislation giving women the vote was introduced to the Syrian parliament before a similar measure passed in the US in 1920.

Syrians lost their independence to the French in 1920 in the Battle of Maysaloun--and Moubayed tells the story of a young Syrian woman who ripped off her veil before the news cameras, donned military garb, and fought courageously to preserve Syrian independence--winning acclaim as the Arab Joan of Arc.

Syria has produced an array of leading poets, writers, and painters. In the 1970s, Syria was the first Arab country to appoint women as judges, parliamentary deputies, ministers, and ambassadors. Today, women in Syria compose slightly more than 50% of the workforce and, by many measures, women in Syria are more free than European women and are equal in rights to American women.

In Steel & Silk you will meet the nationalists who led the independence struggle against the French. You will meet the statesmen who made Syria a central player in the Middle East. You will meet poets, painters, dramatists and thinkers as well as diplomats, journalists, and civil servants.

Over 160 black & white photos. Includes a workshop for students, journalists, and researchers that includes an annotated timeline of 20th Century Syria, and lists of Syrian officials since the fall of the Ottomans in 1918.