Book collectors in Daraya

'The Book Collectors of Daraya celebrates the political and therapeutic power of the written word... defiant and cautiously optimistic' Financial Times

[Record] Amazing... The book tells the kind of story that is often buried under images of violence' LitHub

In 2012, Syrian government forces brutally besieged the rebellious Damascus suburb of Daraya. Four years of suffering followed, punctuated by shelling, barrel bombs, and chemical gas attacks. People's homes were destroyed, their food supplies cut off, and disease spread.

Yet, in this man-made hell, forty young Syrian rebels embarked on an extraordinary project: they rescued all the books they could find in the rubble of their bombed-out city. They used them to create a secret library, in a safe place, deep underground. It became their school, their university, and their refuge. It was a place for learning, for the exchange of ideas, for dreams, and for hope. Based on extensive interviews with these young people, conducted via Skype by award-winning French journalist Delphine Minoui, "The Book Collectors of Daraya" is a powerful testament to freedom, tolerance, and the power of literature. Translated from the French by Lara Vernou.