This is a richly textured study. . . . The book is full of interesting and novel ways of understanding Syrian peasant behavior and why peasants cannot be discussed as a single socioeconomic or political force or group."--Philip S. Khoury, Massachusetts Institute of Technology"This is a profound and comprehensive study of modern Syria that is unlikely to be surpassed for a very long time. It is a model of how social history should be written, and of how it can be used to explain the politics of a complex society like Syria."--Rashid Khalidi, University of Chicago