When the convulsions of the Arab Spring first became manifest in Syria in March 2011, the Ba'athist regime was quick to blame the pro- tests on the 'Syrian Muslim Brotherhood' and its 'al-Qaeda affiliates.' But who are these Islamists so determined to rule a post-Assad Syria? Little has been published on militant Islam in Syria since Hafez Assad's regime destroyed the Islamist movement in its stronghold of Hama in February 1982. This book bridges that gap by providing readers with the first comprehensive account of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's history to date. In this ground-breaking account of Syria's most prominent, yet highly secretive, Islamist organisation, the author draws on previously untapped sources: the memoirs of former Syrian jihadists; British and American archives; and also a series of wide-ranging interviews with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's historical leaders as well as those who battled against them - many speaking on the record for the first time. Ashes of Hama uncovers the major aspects of the Islamist struggle: from the Brotherhood's radicalisation and its 'jihad' against the Ba'athist regime and subsequent exile, to a spectacular comeback at the forefront of the Syrian revolution in 2011 - a remarkable turnaround for an Islamist movement which all analysts had pronounced dead amid the ruins of Hama in 1982.

"In this timely book Lefevre rightly observes that the ashes of Hama have become the ashes of Syria … highly recommended." - Choice

"Lefevre has produced a richly detailed, well-written, and sober analytical account of the history of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood. He does an outstanding job of bringing together a wide range of English, French, and Arabic sources to convincingly place the Syrian Brotherhood within its local political context. Ashes of Hama is without question the best available comprehensive English-language work on Syrian Islamist politics." - Foreign Policy Middle East Channel Best of 2013

"An impressive and unprecedented compendium of research." - New York Journal of Books

"An important contribution on the massacre's impact on the Syrian political landscape and on an organization set to play a crucial role in post-Assad Syria." - The Huffington Post

"In a compact and compelling account, [Ashes of Hama] describes in detail the build-up to an Islamist uprising in the city of Hama in February 1982. … [A]n important addition to Syria scholarship because the author debunks more thoroughly than others have done the myth perpetuated by the regime and accepted as received wisdom by the world ever since that the Muslim Brotherhood was responsible for the anti-government violence in the 1970s." - Times Literary Supplement

"A timely and essential history - [Ashes of Hama]'s great strength is the way in which it sets the Syrian story of the Brotherhood in the context of the place, firmly rooted in the country's tumultuous, often violent post-colonial history." - The National

"Raphael Lefevre's book sheds valuable light on the Islamist movements that seem poised to take power in a post-Ba'th Syria. It draws on new primary sources, such as interviews with and memoirs of Brotherhood leaders and Western government archives. The definitive study of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, it also throws new light on its jihadi offshoots." - Middle East Journal