Five years have passed since the author's last visit to Syria, the subject of his now-classicThe Street Philosopher and the Holy Fool, and he now finds Syria a much darker and more troublesome place. To make matters worse, Abed and Sulayman, the street philosopher and holy fool of his previous travelogue, are estranged, and only manage a sort-lived and shaky truce to please their English friend. Kociejowski is a metaphysical journalist in search of echoes rather than analogies, hints as opposed to verities, and who discovers once again among the outcasts at the periphery of Damascene society n for the outcast is, to a degree, made of the very thing that rejects him n a way to understand the clashes and challenges and changes refashioning both Syria and the Middle East as a whole. Beautifully written,The Pigeon Wars of Damascus is essential reading for anyone who wishes a deeper and truer understanding of the Middle East and the political and economic pressures currently refashioning it, and reminds us once again of the deeper purpose of travel: to absorb and understand the spirit of a place, and to return changed.

Marius Kociejowski was born 1949, in Kemptville, outside of Ottawa. He has published three collections of poetry in England: Coast (Greville Press, awarded the Cheltenham Prize, 1991), Doctor Honoris Causa and Music's Bride (both Anvil Press). He has also published essays on various topics, mainly on people, travel and literature. Recently he completed The Street Philosopher & the Holy Fool, a travelogue based on five journeys he made to Syria. He lives in London, England

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"Horror and Violence Continue for the People of Syria" - Vatican Radio