Peter Clark explores the roots of the Syrian crisis, Robin Yassin-Kassab explores revolutionary culture, Sam Hamad dissects the Islamist opposition, Rasha Omran rejects the notion that sect can be a homeland, Ella Wind pursues an inside perspective on the Syrian uprising, Malu Halasa samples the local lingerie of Aleppo, Afra Jalabi agonises over a photograph of a lost child, Amal Hanano recalls the massacre of Hama, Frederic Gijsel visits a pre-revolution House of Poetry, Ross Burn is concerned about the loss of cultural property, Brigid Waddams remembers Old Damascus, Hania Mourtada has a disturbing encounter on Skype, Boyd Tonkin finds it difficult to distinguish between volunteers and terrorists, Itaz Azzam gets the refugee women involved in a production of ‘Trojan Women’, Maysaloon chides Syrian drama for its complicity, Yasmin Fedda and Daniel Gorman praise the underground cinema of defiance, and Laurens de Rooji reads two recent books on Syria.

Also in the issue: five very short stories by Zakariya Tamar, poems by Golan Haji, Moniza Alvi and Ruth Padel, Ehsan Masood on religion and environment, and ten things you ought to know about Syria.