Roundabout of Death

Aleppo, 2012. Everyday life is metronomically punctuated by bombing. Violence obliterates the ancient city's rich layers of history, its neighborhoods and medieval and Ottoman landmarks. For a schoolteacher of Arabic, even daily errands become life-threatening tasks. He experiences the wide-scale destruction wrought upon the monumental Syrian metropolis as it became the stage for a vicious struggle between warring powers. Death hovers ever closer while the teacher roams Aleppo's streets and byways, minutely observing the perils of urban life. -- adapted from back cover