Wendy Pearlman - "We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled" - Chris Blattman

"The momentum and unusual impact of this book are built by the wrenching candor of dozens of Syrians from all religions, ethnicities, and major cities … The book does well to explain the challenges of the future, not only in ending the war but in healing a traumatized and shell-shocked society.”— New Yorker

“Profoundly important…Pearlman, an accomplished political scientist, has chosen to let her Syrian interlocutors speak for themselves. What emerges is a complex, engaging and difficult oral history, which deserves a wide readership.”— Mark Lynch, Professor of Political Science at George Washing University and author The New Arab Wars: Anarchy and Uprising in the Middle East and The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East 

Professor Wendy Pearlman of Northwestern University will discuss her acclaimed new book, We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria. Called “essential reading” by the New York Times, the oral history offers insight into the human dimension of the Syrian uprising, war, and refugee crisis. She will be joined in conversation by the University of Chicago's very own Chris Blattman. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion.

Presented in partnership with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at The University of Chicago

At the Co-op

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About the book: Reminiscent of the work of Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich, an astonishing collection of intimate wartime testimonies and poetic fragments from a cross-section of Syrians whose lives have been transformed by revolution, war, and flight.

Against the backdrop of the wave of demonstrations known as the Arab Spring, in 2011 hundreds of thousands of Syrians took to the streets demanding freedom, democracy and human rights. The government’s ferocious response, and the refusal of the demonstrators to back down, sparked a brutal civil war that over the past five years has escalated into the worst humanitarian catastrophe of our times.

Yet despite all the reporting, the video, and the wrenching photography, the stories of ordinary Syrians remain unheard, while the stories told about them have been distorted by broad brush dread and political expediency. This fierce and poignant collection changes that. Based on interviews with hundreds of displaced Syrians conducted over four years across the Middle East and Europe, We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled is a breathtaking mosaic of first-hand testimonials from the frontlines. Some of the testimonies are several pages long, eloquent narratives that could stand alone as short stories; others are only a few sentences, poetic and aphoristic. Together, they cohere into an unforgettable chronicle that is not only a testament to the power of storytelling but to the strength of those who face darkness with hope, courage, and moral conviction.

About the author: Wendy Pearlman is the Koldyke Outstanding Teaching Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University, where she specializes in Middle East politics. She is the author of three books, We Crossed A Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria (HarperCollins, 2017), Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement (Cambridge University Press, 2011) and Occupied Voices: Stories of Everyday Life from the Second Intifada (Nation Books, 2003).

About the interlocutor: Chris Blattman is the Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at The University of Chicago’s Pearson Institute and Harris Public Policy. He is an economist and political scientist who studies poverty, violence, and crime in developing countries.