In June 1458, two boats were cornered by pirates off the coast of Malta. Their captain – Robert Sturmy – proved no match for the notorious Genoese freebooter Giuliano Gattilusio and was summarily killed by him. The precious cargo for which Sturmy paid with his life contained stealable goods but also cultural significance. Sweet wines, spices, silks, jewels, and minerals – these alluring commodities gripped the medieval English imagination. E. K. Myerson utilises this dramatic incident of Mediterranean plunder to reveal the impact of Syrian imports on medieval art, language, and everyday life. They argue that the cultural category of 'Syriana' became a powerful tool, used to evoke both the sacred sites of the Holy Land and the global marketplaces of the Mamluk Empire. Myerson's innovative book draws on their research into medieval archives, conceptual art, and postcolonial and queer theory, showing how medieval 'Syriana' transformed English society in ways which continue to resonate today.

‘A startling work of scholarship, imagination, and defamiliarisation, this book is as exciting as it's original.'

Devorah Baum - Professor of English Literature, University of Southampton

‘The Desire for Syria in Medieval England is an eloquent and original study of the internationalism of medieval Europe and the Near East. E. K. Myerson shows how the global marketplace of the later Middle Ages influenced English culture, as commerce and commodification went hand in hand with an ambivalent desire for the East. The Desire for Syria in Medieval England helps us to see the intersections of longing and power in a timely account of how medieval culture understood the wider world.'

Anthony Bale - Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English, University of Cambridge

‘A rich and timely book that explores the deep connections between European markets and the products of the Holy Land. The story of a shipwreck is the starting point for a fascinating analysis of medieval texts, from poetry to pilgrimage accounts. Myerson has a wonderful eye for detail and brings the objects and fantasies of the fifteenth century into sharp – and thought-provoking – focus.'

Marion Turner - J. R. R. Tolkien Professor of English Literature and Language, University of Oxford

‘The Desire for Syria in Medieval England is an entrancing, exhilarating revelation of how the idea of Syria and the desire for the precious things emanating from it pervaded late medieval and early modern England. E. K. Myerson's book is arranged as a glittering inventory of the goods carried by merchant ships between the Levant and Europe, which allows them to riddle out with erudite delight the meanings – magical, medical, mercantile, alchemical, and sacramental – of commodities like sweet wine, spices, silk, jewels, and alum. Nor does Myerson let us forget how much of the desire for Syria persists in our present, which their particoloured history reflects back to itself in a medieval mirror.'

Steven Connor - Professor of English and Director of Research, Digital Futures Institute, King's College London

‘Like one of the medieval craftworkers who appear in these pages – jeweller, silk weaver, or glass engraver – E. K. Myerson has wrought a remarkable, intricate, and wonderful story of cultural entanglement. Scrupulously attentive to the unsaid and the unexamined, adventurous and imaginative in their approach, and ever thoughtful in their commentary, they complicate prevalent views of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian hostility. The Desire for Syria in Medieval England is an exciting and unusual study, packed with a rich cargo of treasures – in more ways than one.'

Marina Warner - Author of Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights