Diana Darke (born 6 March 1956) is an author, Middle East cultural writer, Arabist and occasional BBC broadcaster.^[1][2][3] Her work has appeared in the Guardian,^[4][5][6] the Financial Times,^[7][8] the Sunday Times,^[9] the Daily Telegraph^[10][11] and Al Araby.^[12] She graduated from Wadham College, Oxford, in 1977, where she studied German and Philosophy/Arabic,^[13] then went on to work for the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and Racal Electronics Plc as an Arabic consultant. In 2005, Darke purchased a 17th-century courtyard house in the Old City of Damascus.^[14]

Publications

• Syria, Bradt Travel Guides, 2010, ISBN 978-1-841-62314-6.
• Oman, Bradt Travel Guides, 2010, ISBN 978-1-841-62332-0.
• North Cyprus, Bradt Travel Guides, 2012, ISBN 978-1-841-62372-6.
• Eastern Turkey, Bradt Travel Guides, 2014, ISBN 978-1-841-62490-7
• My House in Damascus: An Inside View of the Syrian Crisis, Haus Publishing, 2016, ISBN 978-1-908-32399-6.[1]
• The Merchant of Syria: A History of Survival, Hurst Publishers, 2018, ISBN 978-1-84904-940-5.[2]
• The Last Sanctuary in Aleppo (co-author), Headline Publishing, 2019, ISBN 978-1-4722-6057-4.[3]
• Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture shaped Europe, Hurst Publishers, 2020, [4]
• The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy, Thames & Hudson, 2022, ISBN 978-0-50025-266-6