Diana Darke

Bio

Diana Darke is the author of The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy and Islamesque: The Forgotten Craftsmen Who Built Europe’s Medieval Monuments. In 2005, she bought a semi-derelict courtyard house in Old Damascus and embarked on a three-year

restoration project together with the help of a Syrian architect and craftsmen, a Syrian lawyer, and a bank manager. At this point, Darke became deeply embedded in Syrian society, giving her a unique perspective from which to write this book.