Days of Love and Rage - by Anand Gopal Hardcover

About the Book

"In 2011, in a northern Syrian city, a small group of men and women began a movement that overthrew one of the world's most brutal dictatorships. For the next eighteen months, citizens of Manbij carried out one of the most remarkable experiments in democracy in modern times. [This book] details the powerfully intimate narratives of men and women who led this struggle, and who experience the highs of camaraderie and the lows of betrayal: a pair of best friends torn apart by political polarization, a mother who stands up to male dominance, a worker who risks everything for the dream of equality"--

Book Synopsis

From Pulitzer and National Book Award finalist Anand Gopal, a mesmerizing and powerful account of six Syrians fighting for a better world, in the tradition of classic works by Philip Gourevitch and Katherine Boo.

In 2011, in a northern Syrian city, a small group of men and women began a movement that overthrew one of the world's most brutal dictatorships. For the next eighteen months, citizens of Manbij carried out one of the most remarkable experiments in democracy in modern times.

Days of Love and Rage details the powerfully intimate narratives of men and women who led this struggle, and who experience the highs of camaraderie and the lows of betrayal: a pair of best friends torn apart by political polarization, a mother who stands up to male dominance, a worker who risks everything for the dream of equality.

Anand Gopal immerses you in the world of a single city in the throes of revolution, and lays bare the danger that inequality poses to democracy. But this book transcends the particulars of one terrible conflict to tell the sweeping story of democracy and rising authoritarianism in our times. It is, above all, an account of the best and worst of humanity. Both tragic and inspiring, Days of Love and Rage is a story of our enduring human need for freedom, security, dignity, community, love, and hope.

Review Quotes

"Days of Love and Rage is an astonishing book about the limits of fear, the way obsession with one value can mutate into a kind of tyranny, and the struggle to find logic and meaning in history and in personal sacrifice. It is also a riveting portrait of a community of remarkable people who managed to remain open to the world, even as it closed in on them. It's hard for me to imagine a better work of nonfiction than this."
--Rachel Aviv, New York Times bestselling author of Strangers to Ourselves

"Remarkable ...This book is not only about the Syrian revolution. It is a profound meditation on human nature, resilience, and faith. Gopal brings to life the stories of Syrians whose political imagination, fearless actions, and astonishing courage, reveal the depths of human solidarity and sacrifice in pursuit of a better world. As Days of Love and Rage so compellingly reminds us, hope itself can be an act of resistance."
--Emma Sky OBE, author of The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq

About the Author

Anand Gopal is a writer for The New Yorker. He is the author of No Good Men Among the Living and writes about democracy, inequality, and conflict.