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The Crossing: My Journey to the Shattered Heart of Syria Paperback – July 1, 2016

by Samar Yazbek (Author), Nashwa Gowanlock (Translator), Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp (Translator),
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 198 ratings
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Samar Yazbek was well-known in her native Syria as a writer and a journalist but, in 2011, she fell foul of the Assad regime and was forced to flee. Since then, determined to bear witness to the suffering of her people, she revisited her homeland by squeezing through a hole in the fence on the Turkish border. Here she testifies to the appalling reality that is Syria today. From the first innocent demonstrations for democracy, through the beginnings of the Free Syrian Army, to the arrival of ISIS, she offers remarkable snapshots of soldiers, children, ordinary men and women simply trying to stay alive. Some of these stories are of hardship and brutality that is hard to bear, but she also gives testimony to touches of humanity along the way: how people live under the gaze of a sniper, how principled young men try to resist orders from their military superiors, how children cope in bunkers. Yazbek's portraits of life in Syria are very real, and her prose, luminous. The Crossing is undoubtedly both an important historical document and a work of literature.
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  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Ebury Press
  4. Publication date
    July 1, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 0.7 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    184604488X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1846044885
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"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

About the Author

Samar Yazbek is a journalist who has written op-eds for the New York Times and Washington Post. Her translated work includes A Woman in the Crossfire, her diaries of the first four months of the Syrian uprising. Christina Lamb is the Foreign Correspondent for the Sunday Times and the coauthor of I Am Malala.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ebury Press; Reprint edition (July 1, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 184604488X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1846044885
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.7 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 198 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Samar Yazbik

    Samar Yazbik

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    Samar Yazbek is a Syrian writer and journalist. She was born in Jableh, Syria, near Latakia, in 1970, and studied Arabic literature at Latakia university. She has written in a wide variety of genres - novels, short stories, film scripts, television dramas, film and TV criticism. Yazbek has been a prominent voice in support of human rights and more specifically women's rights in Syria. In 2012, she launched Women Now for Development, an NGO based in France that aims at empowering Syrian women economically and socially.

    In 2010, Yazbek was selected as one of the Beirut39, a group of 39 Arab writers under the age of 40 chosen through a contest organized by the Hay Festival. In 2011, she took part in the popular uprising against the Assad regime, and was forced to exile a few months later. In 2012, she was chosen for the prestigious PEN/Pinter Prize "International writer of courage", in recognition of her book In the Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian Revolution. She was also awarded the Swedish Tucholsky Prize, and the Dutch Oxfam/PEN, in the same year. In the same year, Samar tried to move back to the North of Syria, and settle in the areas that were freed from the Assad regime. However, in 2013, she settled in Paris instead because of the growing threatening presence of ISIS in Syria.

    Samar Yazbek published three collections of short stories, four novels, and a mémoire on the Syrian Revolution. Three of her books were translated to several languages

    See more on the author's page
  2. Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp

    Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp is a literary translator working from Arabic, Russian and German into English. Her translations have been shortlisted for the Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize, the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize and the GLLI Translated YA Prize. She has several times been awarded a PEN Translates grant for her translations, which include fiction and nonfiction from Germany, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Russia, Switzerland and Syria.

    See more on the author's page
  3. Nashwa Gowanlock

    Nashwa Gowanlock

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    Nashwa Gowanlock is a freelance writer, editor and literary translator. She is the translator of the collaborative novel, Shatila Stories, and co-translator of Samar Yazbek's memoir, The Crossing: My Journey to the Shattered Heart of Syria. She is a contributing editor of ArabLit Quarterly, a journal of Arabic literature in translation.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
198 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the pacing compelling and thought-provoking. They describe the book as essential reading, amazing, heroic, and eye-opening. Readers praise the writing quality as great, bright, and articulate.

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5 customers mention "Pacing"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the pacing compelling and thought-provoking. They say it's essential reading and an amazing, heroic read. Readers also describe the book as powerful, eye-opening, and difficult to read.

"...This books is powerful, eye-opening, and difficult to read...." Read more

"...However, once you read it for what it is, it is a compelling and thought provoking narrative...." Read more

"...so much attention being paid to COVID and other crisis, this is essential reading so that the human rights of the Syrian people are not ignored for..." Read more

"Am amazing heroic read...." Read more

4 customers mention "Writing quality"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing quality great, bright, and articulate. They also say the book is powerful, eye-opening, and difficult to read.

"...This books is powerful, eye-opening, and difficult to read...." Read more

"...The author is brave, bright and articulate...." Read more

"...Beautifully written and a rare account of life within Syria's warzone." Read more

"...You will be standing by her side when you read this. Great writing!" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Beautifully Bookish Bethany
5.0 out of 5 stars Brutal yet powerful first hand account of conditions on-the-ground in Syria
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2018
Verified Purchase
The Crossing is the firsthand account of Syrian journalist Samar Yazbek returning to her home country a couple years into the Syrian revolution. This books is powerful, eye-opening, and difficult to read. It took me several months to make my way through it because the raw pain and brutality the Syrian people are dealing with is horrifying.

Samar documents her journey to visit on three occasions, ostensibly to help women start self-sustaining businesses. This is an intimate portrait of the lives of Syrians living with daily or near-daily bombing, numbing levels of tragedy, inhumane living conditions, and incredible uncertainty. She interviews men and women, journalists, leaders of militant brigades, and more, painting a vivid, very human picture of the Syrian situation. Words don't do it justice and I think this is a book that everyone should read. It is difficult, but well worth it.
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Jay
4.0 out of 5 stars A compelling read
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2015
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The book is in many ways a diary written during hectic travels through war torn northern Syria so understandably it is a little disjointed. However, once you read it for what it is, it is a compelling and thought provoking narrative. The people she interviewed spoke under severe conditions and did so because they thought she would get their messages to the outside world but it is unclear what they wanted the outside world to do in response. Most want desperately to get rid of Assad but there is a wide variety of opinions on what should happen next. The author is brave, bright and articulate. She should now write a book describing what the oppressed Syrian people want from the rest of the world.

Also, I initially complained when this book did not arrive as promised. Wordery, the distributor, apologized and quickly sent the book.
3 people found this helpful
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Nicole Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2021
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More than a decade since the start of the Syrian war, I finally got a chance to read this firsthand account of what life is like beyond the news headlines and TV coverage. With so much attention being paid to COVID and other crisis, this is essential reading so that the human rights of the Syrian people are not ignored for good. Beautifully written and a rare account of life within Syria's warzone.
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Alice A
5.0 out of 5 stars Samar Yazbek's journalistic record of three crossings from Turkey into war-torn northwestern Syria provides stark descriptions o
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2016
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Samar Yazbek's journalistic record of her three crossings from Turkey into war-torn northwestern Syria provides stark descriptions of daily life under bombardment by the Syrian government, the plethora of Syrian rebel groups fighting the Assad regime, Syrian civilians defending themselves against criminal gangs bent on rape and pillage, and foreigners who swarm into Syria to establish a criminal, pseudo-religious empire. Yazbek interviewed a wide variety of Syrians, including women and children, who try to live amid the terror. Yazbek lays waste to any notions that putting a stop to the carnage will be simple. Read this and help a refugee to safety!
One person found this helpful
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Ally
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Condition
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2022
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The book was exactly as described and in beautiful condition. Thank you (:
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Fourth Kind
5.0 out of 5 stars Committted journalism
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2017
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Am amazing heroic read. To have returned several times to her native Syria to report on the desperation and death that imbued her country since the « war” began. Also very personal interactions with families, activists, soldiers which brings the reality of what this geo political struggle is facing. You will be standing by her side when you read this. Great writing!
One person found this helpful
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Elizabeth Monteath
4.0 out of 5 stars This is a compelling book that is pretty hard to read as the situations described are horrendous
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2015
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Samar details through her own experiences and her interviews with combatants the course of events that have lead to the atrocities that still unbelievably continue relentlessly today. This is a compelling book that is pretty hard to read as the situations described are horrendous.
3 people found this helpful
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Stebbo
5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone who cares about the world we live in should ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2016
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Everyone who cares about the world we live in should read this book. It is up there with DESPATCHES (Vietnam) and GOODBYE TO ALL THAT (world war 1). If only Trump could read he would understand that this is what is happening in Syria and that it is Assad not Isis who are the cause.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Sandy
5.0 out of 5 stars Schönes Buch
Reviewed in Germany on July 19, 2019
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GUte Sprache, tolle Story.
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ian Relaxbyread
5.0 out of 5 stars A book written from the heart
Reviewed in Australia on April 26, 2023
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The harrowing reality of war is laid bare by the author who spent an exhausting time in her own country, at the risk of her own life at times and after being smuggled both in and out of Syria. Her detail of life under a constant barrage of bombing of the people who clearly have had no input into a conflict which is fuelled by religious ideology and mens egos. The author very clearly defines the warring parties, and there are many, which is continuing to send Syria into a never ending conflict.
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Amitava Chatterjee
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in India on November 20, 2016
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Report from ground zero. Reports you don't find in newspapers.
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JDSEssx
5.0 out of 5 stars The Crossing.....an eye opener!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2016
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Anyone who wants to know what the refugees from Syria are running from should read this book! Opened my eyes to the humanitarian crisis which is being played out on a daily basis in many parts of Syria. The realisation that this war is not just a war between ISIS and the Syrian government, and is far more complicated than many of us can ever imagine came as a great education to me. Beautifully written, no holds barred, by an author who is herself a refugee of this crisis. Recommended.
9 people found this helpful
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Irshad Ahmad
4.0 out of 5 stars Zu empfehlen
Reviewed in Germany on November 26, 2020
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