Diana Darke is a Middle East cultural expert with special focus on Syria. With degrees in Arabic from Oxford University and in Islamic Art & Architecture from SOAS, London, she has spent over 30 years specializing in the region, working for both government and commercial sectors.
She is frequently invited to speak at international events and media networks, such as the BBC, PBS, TRT, Al-Jazeera, and France24. Her work on Syria has been published by the BBC website, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, and The Financial Times. She is a Non-Resident Scholar at Washington’s think-tank MEI (the Middle East Institute).
Diana is also the author of the highly acclaimed My House in Damascus: An Inside View of the Syrian Crisis (2016), The Merchant of Syria (2018), and The Last Sanctuary in Aleppo (2019).
Books in order of publication:
Syria, Bradt Travel Guides, 2010
Oman, Bradt Travel Guides, 2010
North Cyprus, Bradt Travel Guides, 2012
Eastern Turkey, Bradt Travel Guides, 2014
My House in Damascus: An Inside View of the Syrian Crisis (2016)
The Merchant of Syria (2018)
The Last Sanctuary in Aleppo (2019)
Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe – 2020
The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy, Thames & Hudson, 2022
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