<p><b>In <i>Assad: The Triumph of Tyranny</i>, Con Coughlin, veteran commentator on war in the Middle East and author of <i>Saddam: The Secret Life</i>, examines how a mild-mannered ophthalmic surgeon has transformed himself into the tyrannical ruler of a once flourishing country.</b><br><br>Until the Arab Spring of 2011, the world’s view of Bashar al-Assad was largely benign. He and his wife, a former British banker, were viewed as philanthropic individuals doing their best to keep their country at peace. So much so that a profile of Mrs Assad in American <i>Vogue</i> was headlined ‘The Rose in the Desert’. Shortly after it appeared, Syria descended into the horrific civil war that has seen its cities reduced to rubble and thousands murdered and displaced, a civil war that is still raging over a decade later.<br><br>In this vivid and authoritative account Con Coughlin draws toge
