This remarkable anthology published articles chronicles more than three years of spiralling violence and despair in Syria: atrocity heaped upon atrocity, misery upon misery, and all - so far - to no avail. No faction is without blood on its hands; no crime, from torture to poison gas, has been deemed taboo. The dead are too numerous to count. As for the living, close to 3 million refugees have fled Syria, with millions more internally displaced. How did we come to this? There is no better way to answer this question than to revisit The Independent’s published accounts of the unfolding tragedy. Spearheaded by profoundly experienced correspondents such as Robert Fisk, Patrick Cockburn, Kim Sengupta, the coverage has led the world in its fearlessness and insight.