I'm looking to continue expanding my knowledge of Syria in the 20th century, and these are two glaring weak spots for me currently. I'm just finishing Patrick Seale's The Struggle for Syria which has given me a great handle on the period between independence and union with Egypt (1946-58), and I've also read Seale's biography of Hafez Assad and a few other books on that period (although more suggestions there are certainly welcome).
What I don't know that much about is the French conquest and rule of the country. I'd be very interested in reading about the entire course of events, from their initial interest in Syria to the conquest of Faysal's kingdom, all the way through to the WWII fighting there and the reluctant granting of Syrian independence. I'd also like to read more on the United Arab Republic, and specifically its effects on Syria and Syrian military/political affairs and foreign relations.
Thanks in advance for suggestions!
One of the cornerstones of historiography on the mandate is Philip Khoury's Syria and the French Mandate: The Politics of Arab Nationalism, 1920-1945. James Gelvin's Divided Loyalties: Nationalism and Mass Politics in Syria at the Close of Empire details the messy transition between the brief Arab government and the imposition of the Mandates. Elizabeth Thompson has made something of a name for herself as a scholar of the Mandates in Lebanon and Syria. Her first book Colonial citizens: Republican rights, paternal privilege, and gender in French Syria and Lebanon examines the Mandate through subaltern and gender studies. Finally, a new monograph by Daniel Neep, Occupying Syria under the French Mandate: Insurgency, Space, and State Formation , contends that violence was entwined into the Mandate system and military responses and mentalities became very difficult to separate out of civilian actions of the Mandate government.
I'm a big fan of D.K. Fieldhouse's Western Imperialism in the Middle East, 1914-1958.
He also covers lots of other books/sources you can explore.