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Customer Reviews (5)

Structures over Persons
A HISTORY OF MODERN LEBANON by Fawwaz Traboulsi is a very good introduction to the structural aspects (economic, political, sectarian) of Lebanese history from the 1500s up to 1990, focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries. The reader learns much about the geopolitical and economic forces and movements that shaped the quest for autonomy among the diverse peoples of Lebanon. As a newcomer to this history, I would have appreciated learning something more about the persons, not only the social forces, who have shaped Lebanon's quest for freedom from the Ottoman empire, France, and more recently Syria. This edition of the book is a translation of a text originally written in Arabic into English. I found the author's narrative voice did not come across clearly and distinctly until Parts II and III that cover the 20th century. After the Postscript, there is a very helpful chronology, glossary, fulsome notes and bibliography. Given the use of Arabic terms and names in the text, a much fuller glossary would help, and a separate section on the main actors in Lebanese history with phonetic spelling or pronunciation hints about their names. Also more pictures of persons and places would enrich this useful text. Having taught undergraduates for nine years, I would recommend this book for introductory courses in the social sciences as a good example of a structural history of a people and region, and for introductory courses to the history of the Middle East. I would also recommend this book for courses with a postcolonial perspective on how nations became 'imagined' into being by western powers with little regard for regional and sectarian realities. After the Postscript I was left to wonder why the Lebanese how not yet fully secularized political representation in their society. As a scholar on my way to live in Beirut in fall 2010, I look forward to learning more about the unique perspectives and convictions of the Lebanese people.

A Must Read for anyone who wants to know Lebanon's past and future.
This book gives a detailed yet brief overview of Lebanon's history in a flowing and concise form. It sheds light on a Lebanon's various controversial phases in history, yet maintaining its objectivity. I recommend that anyone interested in the landmass called Lebanon to give this book a thorough read.

A book with little academic content
This book by Fawwwaz Traboulsi, aside from the poor print and paper qaulity, leaves the reader starving for new ideas or inspiring / revealing contents.It is simply a rehash of dozens of volumes that appeared on the subject in recent years which were much more scholarly written and presented a much more balanced presentation.The pretention on the back jacket that this is THE book on a modern history of Lebanon is incorrect; readers can just enter the word Lebanon on the [...] subject line and will have a list of 2,000 books including almost 25 new ones that cover the modern history of Lebanon even if they don't have the word "history" in their title.The book is not even enough on the LEFT (as Mr. Traboulsi is known as being a leading leftist academic) as it attempts to follow the current trend in Lebanon of a revisionist approach to rewriting the story of the civil war to staisfy a lot of groups.As for the events between 1516 and 1920 in Lebanon these can be found in almost every book on Lebanon.Mr. Traboulsi simply picked and chose the details of that period and there was nothing original there either. Don't waste your time or money.

Recommended for all audiences
There is something unique about this book. It does not only narrate Lebanon's historical events, it analyzes them from a socio-economic perspective. Traboulsi is not only a historian. He is a seasoned Lebanese political activist and partisan of the now-disbanded Organization of Communist Activity. Accordingly, a number of accounts in his book come from a person who was well-situated to learn about them firsthand.
Unlike the description of this book, it is not the only work on Lebanese history in the past forty years. However, the book is certainly the best recommended for first-time readers who have no or minimum background information on the subject.
Without going into great detail, the author assembles an enormous amount of information and presents it in this enjoyable read whose language was shaped by a talented Marlin Dick, one of the best Western journalists based in Lebanon.
For those who are familiar with other literature on the subject, this book brings together several themes drawn from Kamal Salibi's A House of Many Mansions, Samir Kassir's A History of Beirut as well as primary sources. Traboulsi deals well with archival material and other primary sources and conducts excellent research.
A History of Modern Lebanon (as opposed to Salibi's A Modern History of Lebanon), fixes the starting date of the state of Lebanon at the sixteenth century unlike other books that go into painstaking detail to narrate the history of this nation since ancient times.
From then on, Traboulsi ascends chronologically and his story reaches the Independence Intifada of 2005. At times, readers might feel that the author delves into irrelevant accounts. But overall, the book is coherent and offers substantiated arguments.

GREAT BOOK !!
A great book from a great professor.. Highly recommended.. m.Assad ... Read more

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By recasting the relationship between religion and nationalism in the Middle East, Roschanack Shaery-Eisenlohr proposes a new framework for understanding Shi'ite politics in Lebanon. Her study draws on a variety of untapped sources, reconsidering not only the politics of the established leadership of Shi'ites but also institutional and popular activities of identity production. Shaery-Eisenlohr traces current Shi'ite politics of piety and authenticity to the coexistence formula in Lebanon and argues that engaging in the discourses of piety and coexistence is a precondition to cultural citizenship in Lebanon. As she demonstrates, debates over the nature of Christianity and Islam and Christian-Muslim dialogue are in fact intertwined with power struggles at the state level.

Since the 1970s, debates in the transnational Shi'ite world have gradually linked Shi'ite piety with the support of the Palestinian cause. Iran's religious elite has backed this piety project in multiple ways, but in doing so it has assisted in the creation of a variety of Lebanese Shi'ite nationalisms with competing claims to religious and national authenticity. Shaery-Eisenlohr argues that these ties to Iran have in fact strengthened the position of Lebanese Shi'ites by providing, as is recognized, economic, military, and ideological support for Hizbullah, as well as by compelling Lebanese Shi'ites to foreground the Lebanese components of their identity more forcefully than ever before.

Shaery-Eisenlohr challenges the belief that Shi'ite identity politics only serve to undermine the Lebanese national project. She also makes clear that the expression of Lebanese Shi'ite identity is a nationalist expression and an unintended result of Iranian efforts to influence the politics of Lebanon.

Customer Reviews (1)

Valuable contribution
This is a highly-informative book on the Lebanese Shia, tracing their historical, religious and cultural development and the domestic roles of the key factions, Hizbullah and Amal, their relationship to one another and to Iran. Chapter one is about the formation of the Shia community in the historically Maronite-dominated country. Chapter two is about the various private schools run by the Shia and their impact on Shia public identity. Chapter three addresses the relationship of the factions to the Palestinian cause, contrasting the Amal/Musa Sadr position of support for the Palestinians short of undermining Lebanon with Hizbullah's narrative of "resistance" and subordination of Lebanese interests to Iran's regional agenda. Chapter four deals with Shia factionalism since the foundation of Hizbullah in 1982. Chapter five provides the history and present of Iranian cultural politics in Lebanon.

If this ordering seems a bit confusing, that is because it is. The chapter and subchapter organization of this book is pretty bad, and it detracts from the otherwise excellent content. Chapter two on the different Shia school systems and their role in forming identity makes a lot more sense once you have read the historical background spread through chapters three, four and five. That chapter, along with more recent socio-cultural discussions related to Hizbullah and Iran, should have come well after the history was discussed. Amal's history is also spread all throughout. It would have made more sense to start with a broad historical narrative and then had chapters dealing with social, educational and modern political issues.

Of great cultural value is the author's relation of personal experiences in speaking with Lebanese from the various camps. There is insight you just can't get from written sources, you have to be there.

I do have a slightly different point of view on the Iran-Hizbullah relationship. The author rejects the depiction of Hizbullah as a mere stooge or puppet, and notes correctly that it must maintain a degree of Lebanese authenticity to remain credible, and so concludes that Hizbullah is more like a partner to Iran, albeit a junior one. She gives two examples of Hizbullah's alleged independence (pp. 194-196), both of which I think are pretty trivial. I would say instead that Hizbullah is an organic extension of Iran, or more specifically, of the Khamenei-Ahmadinejad-IRGC camp within the regime. The author correctly, I think, argues that Hizbullah's closeness to the regime leadership enables it to explain what actions would undermine them beforehand so as to have input into decision-making before a decision is announced. But Hizbullah was founded by Iran, is funded by Iran, follows Khamenei's fatwas without hesitation, and is basically an extension of it. I was struck reading Hizbullah forums after the June 12 election and seeing how perfectly matched Hizbullah members' opinions are to the Ahmadinejad camp. Hizbullah often talks of the "Islamic Republic" - instead of Iran or the Islamic Republic of Iraq - as a kind of disembodied entity, separate from Iran as a country with a people. It is the regime with which they identity.

I'm not persuaded by the author's brief discursion on Iraqi politics near the end, in part because there are some minor factual errors (Muqtada Sadr's marja Kathim Haeri does believe in wilayat al-faqih, see his "Foundations of Islamic Government" p. 137, [...]; and the English name of al-majlis al-ala al-iraqi al-islami is Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, or ISCI, not Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, or SIIC). In fact I think her discussion of ISCI's relationship to Iran weakens her point on Hizbullah. ISCI has deviated from a strict Khomeinist line much more than Hizbullah - they formally switched their allegiance to Sistani in 2007, and have worked closely with the United States. Yet it remains clear that they are an Iranian surrogate. Not only does their vast financial advantage over other Shia political parties clearly come from Iran, but the recent ascension of Ammar Hakim to leadership makes this clear. There is no way that an independent political party would have promoted this guy to leadership.

But this is all sideshow. If you are interested in the Lebanese Shia or have a strong interest in Lebanon or regional Shia politics, the book is worth the minor drawbacks.
... Read more

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Focusing on Ottoman Lebanon, Ussama Makdisi shows how sectarianism was a manifestation of modernity that transcended the physical boundaries of a particular country. His study challenges those who have viewed sectarian violence as an Islamic response to westernization or simply as a product of' social and economic inequities among religious groups. The religious violence of the nineteenth century, which culminated in sectarian mobilizations and massacres in 1860, was a complex, multilayered, subaltern expression of modernization, he says, not a primordial reaction to it.

Makdisi argues that sectarianism represented a deliberate mobilization of religious identities for political and social purposes. The Ottoman reform movement launched in 1839 and the growing European presence in the Middle East contributed to the disintegration of the traditional Lebanese social order based on a hierarchy that bridged religious differences. Makdisi highlights how European colonialism and Orientalism, with their emphasis on Christian salvation and Islamic despotism, and Ottoman and local nationalisms each created and used narratives of sectarianism as foils to their own visions of modernity and to their own projects of colonial, imperial, and national development. Makdisi's book is important to our understanding of Lebanese society today, but it also makes a significant contribution to the discussion of the importance of religious discourse in the formation and dissolution of social and national identities in the modern world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

history of the emergence of sectarianism in Lebanon
The thesis of this book is simple: Sectarianism is not an age-old feature of Lebanese society but rather developed in a dialectical process involving locals, Ottoman reformists, and European interests.The argument is convincing, but it is still incomplete.There is virutally no treatment whatsoever of the changing economic realities the region experienced in the 19th century.As a social history, the work distances itself from the Marxist model, but unfortunately, this distancing resulted in neglect in terms of economic structures of Mt. Lebanon, esepcially with regard to the Christian peasant rebellions and the subsequent massacres which take up a large portion of the book.

Stimulating and cogent - M Mojabber Mourani
There is much that is thought provoking in this scholarly but never boring book; for example, the notion of simplistic, self referential perceptions on the part of western missionaries and diplomats of the various communities in Mount Lebanon coloring subsequent views - and consequently, policies -in that part of the world, and creating artificial stereotypes which were then conveniently exploited.Makdissi's analysis is cogent and stimulating.He presents a challenging and refreshing perspective on events in Mount Lebanon in the middle of the nineteenth century and their far-reaching implications to the state of affairs in modern Lebanon. One cannot help drawing a parallel with perceptions of the world today informed byCNN-cum fast food-style information: Everything one hears is simplistically and uniformly packaged to render it more easily palatable with little regard for the complexities of any situation. What is particularly disconcerting is that even our own perceptions are colored by that type of reporting and analysis! Makdissi's book reminds us of the necessity for questioning our perspectives and assumptions thus conducting 'reality checks' that may lead to some new solutions to misdiagnosed problems. ... Read more

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Today Lebanon is one of the world's most divided countries. But paradoxically the faction-ridden Lebanese, both Christians and Muslims, have never shown a keener consciousness of common identity. How can this be? In the light of modern scholarship, a famous Lebanese writer and scholar examines the historical myths on which his country's warring communities have based their conflicting visions of the Lebanese nation. He shows that Lebanon cannot afford this divisiveness, that in order to develop and maintain a sense of political unity, it is necesary to distinuish fact from fiction and then build on what is real in the common experience of both groups.
Salibi offers a major reinterpretation of Lebanese history and provides remarkable insights into the dynamic of Lebanon's recent conflict. In so doing, he illuminates important facets of his country's present and future. This book also gives a masterly account of how the imagined communities that underlie modern nationalism are created and will be of interest to students of international affairs as well as Near Eastern scholars. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

informative
This book is very informative politically. I have not finished it and was warned that Salibis work is great if you have a good foundation of the history of what your reading. Each page is packed with information takes a while to absorb, so its a long read. would recommend for political knowledge excellent.

Enjoyable reading about a controversial subject
1 - Writing and Style:
I liked the way Salibi writes. It's fascinating and it keeps you attracted to the story. Above all, the chapters and paragraphs are well threaded. You have a series of questions at the end of every chapter that keep you focused.

2 - Content:
He tries to smartly undermine the fundamentals of history and philosophy on which the modern Lebanon was built. It's the famous synergy of its communities, mainly middle eastern minorities, fleeing pressure and persecution that bothers Salibi.

3 - Conclusion:
Salibi is absolutely not a "Lebanist" and I am not saying it in a pejorative way! When reading his book, he manages to take you around the confusing and complicated history of Lebanon expressing his views with arguments that are not better than those of his opponents, however you won't stop reading.

I recommend this book to the "History Analysis lovers". It shows a different face of things specially during the Maan and Shihab eras.

Don't waste your time or money on this book
Salibi writes from a defeatist point of view.He does not support many of his claims with reference but gives a personal opinion.Thanks to modern genetics, Salibi made a fool of himself by making seriously unfounded claims in this book.It is a shame that a person who is supposed to be scholar wrote irresponsibly.Don't waste your time or money on this useless book.

Excellent Book
I originally purchased this book to help get an idea of how Lebanon arrived at where it is today, both politically and socially. Needless to say, in light of the other reviewers, the book succeeds at this masterfully. There is a depth of research and knowledge embedded in this text that I usually do not find in books of similar size; Salibi's writing is direct, to the point and easily accessible. The amount of information is staggering, but given the non-linear narrative used I had no problem keeping the groups, characters and ideas in order. Therefore, the book not only works as an excellent background text to modern Lebanon, but it will also continually work as a reference text, given its comprehensive index. The only issue to note that could be construed as negative to some readers is the lack of information regarding the civil war; Salibi has taken up the history prior to 1975 as the body of the book, which stages the following conflict brilliantly, but does not actually document it. Overall, it was an excellent read.

Identity Crisis Conquered
In this book, Salibi wants to explore the causes of the Lebanese civil war, and to discuss all the rhetoric surrounding the "Lebanese Identity". Lebanon is a country that has been the center of events for such a long time is not an easy topic for any historian to explore, let alone explain! It requires the understanding of the cultural sequence of the region, its surrounding, and the peoples that inhabited it, its rulers, and geography over the period of 25 centuries. Nevertheless, Salibi was not writing the history of the country. Salibi ambitiously and courageously calls for the creation of a collective memory that does not overburden the country. He was setting the record straight from a historical perspective, purging the creeds of the [then existing] conflict as worthless and wrong. His book signals a new era in Lebanese history. An era of national awakening, followed by national maturity: the history of a nation that was established in 1920, and matured in 1987.

Salibi is also rewriting both the history and the historiography of the country. Lebanon may be, as Kamal Salibi wrote, a "house of many mansions," but it is trying to be one state, sovereign and free again. Salibi offers a reinterpretation of Lebanese history, and the strengths that kept the country together. Lebanon has yet to over come many challenges, but it does not have to defend its raison d'etre any longer. The study of history of Lebanon should consider those. It is a country "as fake as" any of the surrounding countries that did not exist before the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement (20).
Salibi attests for the legitimacy and historic right of Lebanon to politically exits. The biggest seal of recognition is that Lebanon exists because its people want it to exist, and at this point this small country's past "ceases to be a question of political rights and wrongs, [...] and acquires more meaning with respect to the present - and even more, with respect to the future" (234). Lebanon doesn't have any more to deal with the crisis of its identity, but of course, it still has to deal with a long list of other issues pertaining to the ever-volatile Middle East.


... Read more

Product Description
"A vivid picture of the crushing difficulties faced by everyArab government."--KirkusReviewsThe security of theWestis threatened by escalatingturmoil rising out ofthe Arabstates is Lebanon, a small, torturedcountry poised uneasilybetween East and West. Improbably, this most unique of Arab states hasmuch to teach about the Arabworld. Like manyArab little sense of common identity andno strongcentralgovernment.

The tumultuous history of Lebanon illuminates notonly the challenges that Arabs pose to themselves butalso the fear and hostility thatarise in response to perceived threats from the West. Awareness and understandingcircumstances and pressures arethe first steps toward resolution, cooperation, and solidity on all sides.

Customer Reviews (6)

Informative and Well written
McKay does a great job breaking down the complexities of the Arab World and explaining the challenges that await it in the future.She does this by exploring the great trajedy that has befallen Lebanon in the last century and analyzing the roots of the conflict.The book is clear in its style and easy to understand and enjoyable to read.Excellent for both those who have little knowledge of the region and for those who studied the region in detail.

Ex-Arabist brought up to date
As someone who lived in Beirut in the early sixties and has lost touch with the country, I found Mackey extremely helpful in putting all subsequent events into perspective without taking sides except against the selfish elites who have ruined the country over and over again.

Tarik
I found this book very good at pointing to the complexities in dealing with the "identity" question that is very active in both East and West. I am a Lebanese-American from south Lebanon and serve in the US Armed Forces. In reading this book I couldn't help but laugh (in a good way) at the similarities between what the author describes in it and the personalities I am force to accept. Her ability to dissect the shades of chemistry in culture, politics, and economics is Eye-POPING!!! Any one interested in culture and conflict management in; or the recent history of, the Middle East must read this book.

for the basic understanding of Lebanese affairs is a great read
Sandra shows in this book a comand in Lebanese affairs, so this is a great read for people traying to understand the actual Lebanon.

Too much focus on israel and not enough on Lebanon
To read this book is to come to beleive that everything that has taken place in Lebanon has something to do with Israel.While this may be the propoganda of Hizbullah it hardly meets with reality.The author begins by claiming the American invasion of Iraq was designed to 'protest Israel without forcing Tel Aviv to address Palestinian rights.'Unfortunatly there is no evidence for this in scholarly form or from media or government broadcasts in 2003.It is a claim out of the mouth of a conspiracy theorist.The obsession with Israel takes away from any context in the book.In desscribing the rise of the Phalange the book seeks to see it entirely from the viewpoint of Israel, whereas the Phalange and its heritage in Peirre Gemayel go back to the 1930s, long before Israel.The author attributes the Israeli invasion in 1982 entirely to an alliance between Bashir Gemayel and Israel which was only slightly true.Begin indeed wanted to save the only non-Muslim neighbor Israel had and he enjoyed the idea of helping beleagured Christians but the author seems to ignore that Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel preceeded the invasion, as did the killing of an Israeli diplomat.The author seems to have forgotten the mini-state Arafat created in Lebanon.

These blatent omissions make the rest of the material in the book suspect.How can one know what to trust.The history of Lebanon is interesting and there are nuggets of interest in this book, but the strange political interpretations and selective memory of the author and the failure to focus on Lebanese culture, for instance the Druze and Greek-Orthodox and Armenians, and instead to make this book about Israel's role in Lebanon weakens it.Lebanon is not really a mirror of the Arab world either.It is entirely unique.

Seth J. Frantzman ... Read more

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--Foreign Affairs

Customer Reviews (1)

A reference work on Lebanon
The works of Samir Khalaf are perhaps the most quoted in all the books that talk about or try to explain the Lebanese civil war. By reading this book, you'd know why the ideas of the sociology professor at the American University of Beirut are such widespread and respected.

Civil and Uncivil Obedience is the fruit of Khalaf's long years of research and his survival of civil war. He observes the Lebanese society and applies modern methodology of analyzing how this society broke down on the eve of the nation's civil strife in 1975 and how tribal affiliations and modes of behavior and interaction easily re-surfed and replaced the state's social contract.

The book is very specialized and might appeal to sociology experts and students more than the average reader. Khalaf's style is also wordy at times as he decorates his text with all kinds of vocabulary that sometimes make the reader lose track of the content. Still, this reference book is worth keeping at your library if you are a Middle East expert or student. ... Read more

Product Description
Once known as the Switzerland of the Middle East, Lebanon, the only Arab state headed by a Christian president, slipped into one of the longest civil wars in history in April 1975. With a few interludes of uneasy peace, and two invasions by Israel, the conflict continued until October 1990. In this account of the people, politics and policies that led to the internal strife in this troubled republic, and fuelled it for nearly 16 years, Dilip Hiro lays bare the intricate twists and turns of regional and international diplomacy and military strategies, involving not only Lebanon's various Christian and Muslim factions but also Syria, Israel, the PLO, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, America, France and the United Nations. The conflict cost Lebanon half a million casualties, including 150,000 dead, a quarter of them children, in a country with a population of 3.5 million. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

how awful war is
despite some truth lacking details, this book represents a thourough look on this awful war..with so many forgotten incidents,it reminds us of so many tiny details that caused the big fire....really good for those lookingfor the truth....a must read ... Read more

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This is the first book to tell the story of the Jews of Lebanon in the twentieth century. It challenges the prevailing view that Jews everywhere in the Middle East were second-class citizens, and were persecuted after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The Jews of Lebanon were just one of Lebanon's 23 minorities with the same rights and privileges, and subject to the same political tensions. The author discusses the Jewish presence in Lebanon under Ottoman Rule; Lebanese Jews under the French mandate; Lebanese Jewish identity after the establishment of the State of Israel; the increase of the community through Syrian refugees; the Jews' position in the first civil war; their involvement in the ex filtration of Syrian Jews; the beginning of their exodus after the 1967 War; the virtual extinction of the Jewish community as a result of the prolonged 1975 second civil war and the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon; and finally the community's memory of their Lebanese past. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (13)

More a brief of Lebanon's problems
With a title like that I did expect more of the book, some insight of the leadership, the organization, the relationship with the Iranians and their development and how it began, and so on. Still, is one of the few out there that avoid distortions, give some entries on the Shiites divisions between pro Hezbollah and others in the south, the support it might had with non Shiites; is more a political context of Lebanon, where Hezbollah lives and drives, than the organization itself.

A very good educational read!
Hezbollah is obviously a well-trained military organization. Whether I disagree or agree with such a disciplined military organ I respect the threat and its dedication as the opponent. Fascinating....George

Fragments on Hezbollah
This is more like a collection of notes for an eventual history than a history itself--it offers neither connected narrative nor any other kind of systematization, and as the reader is not prepared for this by anything in the title, it is difficult to suppress disappointment. Particularly disappointing to me are the treatments of the origins of Hezbollah (which are left indeterminate) and of the 2006 war with Israel (which don't add substantially to the newspaper accounts I remember). As I had been especially interested in precisely these two points, the sketchiness here was conspicuous.

This collection of observations has some values, however. I found the discussion of the shift in meaning of the Ashurah celebrations over the last generation interesting: Norton claims that these have been transformed from commemorations of Shia powerlessness in the world into assertions of Shiite heroism and capacity for self-help. This is not argued so much as simply asserted, but it is interesting nonetheless. Also useful was the attention paid to the relationship between the rival Lebanese Shiite movement Amal and Hezbollah, about which I knew nothing.

best balance is criticism for all
no one is innocent and no one is as evil as the other side's propaganda machine says.

As one who happened to be in South Lebanon at the time the fighting started in 2006, I can say that Norton's description most closely mirrors my experience.

You will benefit greatly by picking up this easy to follow gem. If you want one book to help you understand what's happening now in the Shi'a movement in Lebanon, this will do it for you.

Apologies to Hezbollah
This book is terribly concerned with the idea most people seem to have with Hezbollah, that it is a terrorist organization. The fact that Hezbollah commits murders, kidnappings and launches random rocket attacks at civilians may have led to this unfortunate perception. The author attempts to correct this by pointing out that Hezbollah (with Iranian money) builds hospitals, educational facilities and gives aid to those Shi'a in Lebanon who are in poverty. What the author does not discuss of course is if Hezbollah did not make a habit of kidnapping and killing people who get in its way, many NGOs and the Lebanese government might be able to operate in the areas they control. Better yet, the absence of Hezbollah might go far to relieving the fear, uncertainty and poverty in South Lebanon.

And as far as Hezbollah's "good works" are concerned, the Nazis operated soup kitchens during the Great Depression. That did not make them in less the thug. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subtitle: Containing a Brief Account of the Indians Who Inhabited This Region of Country, and the Numerous Murders by Them; Notices of the First Swedish, Welsh, French, German, Irish, and English Settlers, Giving the Names of Nearly Five Thousand of Them; Biographical Sketches, Topographical Descriptions of Every Township, and of the Principal Towns and Villages; the Religious History, With Much Useful Statistical Information; Notices of the Press & Education. Embellished by Several Appropriate Engravings; Original Published by: G. Hills in 1844 in 540 pages; Subjects: Berks County (Pa.); Lebanon County (Pa.); Berks Co., Pa; Lebanon Co., Pa; Indians of North America; Pennsylvania; History / Native American; History / United States / State & Local / General; History / United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic; Juvenile Nonfiction / People & Places / United States / Native American; Juvenile Fiction / People & Places / United States / Native American; Reference / Genealogy; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / Native American Studies; Travel / United States / Northeast / Middle Atlantic; ... Read more

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After the ceasefire, a group of architects and planners from the American University of Beirut formed the Reconstruction Unit to help in the recovery process and in rebuilding the lives of those affected by the 2006 war in Lebanon .

Here, a series of case studies documenting the work of the Unit discusses the lessons to be learned from the experiences of Lebanon after the July War, and suggests how those lessons might be applied elsewhere.

The cases are diverse in terms of scale, type of intervention, methods, and approaches to the situation on the ground. Critical issues such as community participation, heritage protection, damage assessment and compensation policies, the role of the state, and capacity building are explored and the success and failures assessed.

Product Description
Once known as the Switzerland of the Middle East, Lebanon in the late 1980s was considered a failed state: strife prevailed among Maronite Christians, Sunnis, Shiites, Druze, and Palestinians. William Harris has described Lebanon’s situation within a wider historical context in his books Faces of Lebanon and The Levant, both of which deliver up-to-date analysis and have received international acclaim.

Now, barely into the 21st century, history has taken revenge. The Israelis have withdrawn from the South, and the Syrian troops from all of Lebanon, after the people of Beirut ralliedagainst the occupations and took back their streets. But bombings and contract killings are still the order of the day, and the future of Lebanon remains uncertain. William Harris, a scholar and journalist who is frequently at the right place at the right time, is eminently qualified to analyze events and make projections about the future. When Lebanese Christian General Aoun made his triumphant return from French exile in 2005, he met with Harris. Their last encounter was in his bunker under bombardment. Under similar circumstances, Harris met with Arafat just before he was forced to leave Lebanon. Harris has also shared drinks with Druze leader Walid Jumblat, advised Israeli minister Yossi Beilin about their push for Lebanese withdrawal, and had several talks with various Ba’thist politicians in Damascus.

Publishers Weekly has praised Harris for "managing to find a harmonious balance between wry asides of taxi drivers and local tales on the one hand and interviews with such luminaries as the former deputy director of Israel military intelligence and the chairman of the Palestine National Council on the other . . .", while Al-Hayat has remarked on the lively debates among Lebanese who read his books.

Married to a Lebanese Shi’ite, William Harris is fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, and Turkish. Currently at the University of Otago, New Zealand, Harris has taught at Haigazian University College in Lebanon, Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Johns Hopkins University, Exeter University, University of New South Wales, and Princeton University. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Comprehensive Modern History of Lebanon
William Harris's The New Face of Lebanon is a fairly comprehensive history of modern Lebanon (i.e. after 1920).Although he does spend time discussing the history of Lebanon prior to 1920, the main thrust of the book focuses on the period of the French mandate and thereafter.In this aspect, the book is an excellent resource for anyone seeking to understand the modern political situation in Lebanon.The book is long (300+ pages) and covers many areas of Lebanese history, including population demographics, economics, sectarian divisions, as well as geopolitical and geographical alignments.The writing is often very dry - not uncommon in a history text - but the sheer amount of information makes up for this.Especially useful is the new final chapter of the book, which covers Lebanon's history from 1990 to 2005 (to this point, the only book to analyze the assassination of Rafiq Hariri and the subsequent Syrian withdrawl from Lebanon, although The Killing of Mr Lebanon by Blanford will be released soon).

Harris has an excellent grasp on the political intricacies of Lebanon, and there are several asides about his personal experience as a journalist in Lebanon during the war years.Although he is a journalist, this book is not a journalistic account of the war years, it reads much more like an academic history.Also, although he sometimes refers to debates among Lebanese historians over their own history, Harris does not engage these debates frequently (a much better resource for this is Kamal Salibi's A House of Many Mansions).Overall, this is a great book about modern Lebanese history, although be aware of exactly what it is.A more accessible account of the same events is Sandra Mackey's Lebanon, although Harris's book is far greater in both scope and detail, and more suited to someone who already has a working knowledge of modern Middle Eastern and lebanese history.

The real McCoy!
This book--as does its predecessor, "The Faces of Lebanon"--warrants attention, because it constitutes an honest attempt at interpreting modern Lebanon's history by examining the ideals, events, wounds, compromises, and realities of Lebanese society.If you are looking for the jaded regurgitation of the same old Arab nationalist cant, this is certainly not the book for you; you're better served with the lackluster historiographies and demagoguery of Lebanophobes of Fisk and AbuKhalil's persuasion.If, however, you are interested in the fresh, honest perspective of a sharp interpreter of Lebanese society, this is the real McCoy.

Reprinting of old theories
You read pages of literature on Lebanon in this book and try to find one original thought that Harris might have to offer about the country, but to no avail. Additionally, the cover of the book featuring a picture from the 2005 massive rallies in Beirut that led to the Syrian withdrawal form Lebanon gives the impression that this book was compiled in the aftermath of this event whereas in fact it was not. The book is a reprint of an earlier edition with an updated chapter.
Even though Lebanon's groups and forces have maintained the same presence for the past couple of decades, yet after the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the consequent withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon after 30 years of occupation have revolutionized our perspective on the Syrian role in Lebanon that had until April 2005 kept low profile by the force of Syrian secret police in Lebanon.
The book also endorses the more traditional view on the issue of Lebanese nationalism which has been a point of contention for the past half century. Harris should have better restricted himself to presenting the points of view of the different groups without offering any further analysis because at time, Harris looks to be unfairly taking sides.
The book's style is dry and does not flow and ideas are not original and merely repeat what has been already printed in earlier books. The work is also voluminous for no obvious reason.

"Highly recommended."--Choice Magazine
"Packed with solid information about the complex reality of the Levant...in its historical, geographical, and political aspects during the past two millennia....The survey is remarkably balanced in its depiction of ideologies and rivalries and is replete with useful maps and bibliography...Highly recommended."--Choice Magazine

The New Face of Lebanon
Once known as the Switzerland of the Middle East, Lebanon in the late 1980s was considered a failed state: strife prevailed among Maronite Christians, Sunnis, Shiites, Druze, and Palestinians. William Harris has described Lebanon's situation within a wider historical context in his books Faces of Lebanon and The Levant, both of which deliver up-to-date analysis and have received international acclaim.

Now, barely into the 21st century, history has taken revenge. The Israelis have withdrawn from the South, and the Syrian troops from all of Lebanon, after the people of Beirut rallied
against the occupations and took back their streets. But bombings and contract killings are still the order of the day, and the future of Lebanon remains uncertain. William Harris, a scholar and journalist who is frequently at the right place at the right time, is eminently qualified to analyze events and make projections about the future. When Lebanese Christian General Aoun made his triumphant return from French exile in 2005, he met with Harris. Their last encounter was in his bunker under bombardment. Under similar circumstances, Harris met with Arafat just before he was forced to leave Lebanon. Harris has also shared drinks with Druze leader Walid Jumblat, advised Israeli minister Yossi Beilin about their push for Lebanese withdrawal, and had several talks with various Ba'thist politicians in Damascus.

Publishers Weekly has praised Harris for "managing to find a harmonious balance between wry asides of taxi drivers and local tales on the one hand and interviews with such luminaries as the former deputy director of Israel military intelligence and the chairman of the Palestine National Council on the other . . .", while Al-Hayat has remarked on the lively debates among Lebanese who read his books.

Married to a Lebanese Shi'ite, William Harris is fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, and Turkish. Currently at the University of Otago, New Zealand, Harris has taught at Haigazian University College in Lebanon, Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Johns Hopkins University, Exeter University, University of New South Wales, and Princeton University. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subtitle: Containing a Brief Account of the Indians Who Inhabited This Region of Country, and the Numerous Murders by Them; Notices of the First Swedish, Welsh, French, German, Irish, and English Settlers, Giving the Names of Nearly Five Thousand of Them; Biographical Sketches, Topographical Descriptions of Every Township, and of the Principal Towns and Villages; the Religious History, With Much Useful Statistical Information; Notices of the Press & Education. Embellished by Several Appropriate Engravings; Original Published by: G. Hills in 1844 in 540 pages; Subjects: Berks County (Pa.); Lebanon County (Pa.); Berks Co., Pa; Lebanon Co., Pa; Indians of North America; Pennsylvania; History / Native American; History / United States / State & Local / General; History / United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic; Juvenile Nonfiction / People & Places / United States / Native American; Juvenile Fiction / People & Places / United States / Native American; Reference / Genealogy; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / Native American Studies; Travel / United States / Northeast / Middle Atlantic; ... Read more

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Irene Gendzier's critically acclaimed, wide-reaching analysis of post-World War II U.S. policy in Lebanon posits that the politics of oil and pipelines figured far more significantly in U.S. relations with Lebanon than previously believed. In 1958 the United States sent thousands of troops to shore up the Lebanese regime in the face of domestic opposition and civil war. The justification was preventing a coup in Iraq, but recently declassified documents show that the true objective was to protect America's commercial, political, and strategic interests in Beirut and the Middle East. By reevaluating U.S.-Lebanese relations within the context of America's collaborative intervention with the Lebanese ruling elite, Gendzier aptly demonstrates how oil, power, and politics drove U.S. policy and influenced the development of the state and the region. Featuring a new introduction in which Gendzier discusses the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the remarkable continuity of U.S. foreign policy from 1945 to the present,Notes from the Minefield continues to be the standard text on this topic.

Customer Reviews (1)

Hidden Histories
Irene Gendzier's work on U.S. intervention in Lebanon is a detailed historical analysis of an often neglected problem.Gendzier focuses on the motivations of the all the major players, and brings out the economic dimensions of U.S. policy in an era in which security was often viewed as the only or overriding concern.Her examination of U.S. oil policy in this period foreshadows her later work on the 2003 Iraq War.Though this book can be dry at times, I recommend it for anyone interested in the politics of oil and U.S.-Middle East relations.Not many other works on the Middle East give the Lebanon intervention the spotlight it deserves. ... Read more

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This is the most complete history of the Phoenicians to date, including new research contributed by leading scholars of the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians of Lebanon became masters of rich sea trade, brought us the alphabet, purple cloth, Carthage and Hannibal. That much everyone knows. But there was much more to their story. Their cities of Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, and Byblos were intimately involved with the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians in many of the epic events of the Mediterranean. Egyptian records show Phoenician cedar being brought to the Nile while the Great Pyramid was being built. These sea-traders supplied the Minoans on Crete, and competed with the Mycenaeans of Greece. Phoenician cities survived the Sea Peoples' destruction, then spread westward to plant colonies as far as Spain and Morocco. Their great colony at Carthage became a metropolis of over 500,000 people. Yet their lands in Lebanon fell to Alexander the Great, and Carthage fell to the early Romans in fiery battles. The author presents detailed research and sources behind this work in on-going academic papers. This book is a more readable form of that information, freshened with many maps and pictures. It shows the Phoenicians as resourceful people who emerged from the cedars of Lebanon, experienced the desperation of numerous defeats and the euphoria of many triumphs, and whose descendants and accomplishments still live today. Sanford Holst is widely regarded as one of the leading experts on the Phoenician people. Antoine Khoury Harb is a highly respected professor of history and archaeology in Lebanon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Informative
This book gives a very good historical analysis of the Phoenician people.The book also offers many insights into the people the Phoenicians traded with.There is quite a bit of interesting history in the book such as the trade and alliance between the Egyptians and the Phoenicians.The information seems to be well researched and very well presented.The book brings history to life.

Wonderful story, but largely a myth
The Phoenicians did not leave behind many written texts documenting their civilization. This allows Sanford Holst, who clearly loves the Phoenicians, to fill any gap in our knowledge with his own utopian ideals. It is undisputed that the Phoenicians were the greatest explorers, ship builders, and traders of the Ancient World. But in this book, Holst credits them with virtually every major accomplishment of all the civilizations of the ancient world, from the Pyramids of Egypt, to the palaces of Minoan Crete.
Holst claims that the Phoenicians created the Minoan Civilization on Crete and were directly responsible for the construction of the palaces there. He doesn't present any evidence for this in the book, but I did some online research and found another academic paper he wrote (phoenician.org/minoans_phoenicians_paper.htm) where he claims that, because the Phoenician cities in Lebanon were abandoned in the same century or two as the Minoan Palaces in Crete, and were then reestablished after the fall of Minoan Civilization, this must mean that the Phoenicians left Lebanon to create Minoan Civilization, and then, hundreds of years later, returned to their homeland. This would be a revolutionary new theory, for it to hold any real merit in the field of Archaeology, it would need much stronger evidence to support it, I hope Holst can find some in the years to come.
When Holst claims that the Pyramids must have been built by Maltese stone builders brought to Egypt by the Phoenicians, simply because the stone structures in Malta predate those of Egypt, and the Phoenicians probably visited the island of Malta at that time, I began to realize that this book was not an academic work but mere fantasy.
This is a good fantasy story of an ancient people that we know little about, but do not take any of Holst's assertions as fact. Most of them have little or no supporting evidence.

A fascinating narrative
Sanford Holst has created a fascinating, accessible, and intriguing narrative of the Pheonicians.It explains how the success of trade and the necessary inventions, including the alphabet, developed in the civilizations in the Mediterranean.There were many peaceful people and tolerant societies in the ancient world, including the people of Malta, Crete, and Phoenicia.Since that is different from Roman culture, however, some people prefer to say Phoenician society could not have existed.This book shows there were several different cultures at that time, and we can learn from each of them.

Drama-mentory
This is more in the vein of Sharon Kay Penman's triology (Here Be Dragons et al) of early Wales/England. Sadly, it is not quite as well written as that.

In spite of this being my grandfather's heritage, I could not maintain my interest in continuing reading. It would have been far better to present the actual known facts and how it is that we know these facts (i.e. what evidence exists to support it).

Perhaps, one day, someone will actually write a history of these worthy people. This just isn't it.

Politically Correct History
This is a very good introduction to the ancient society called Phoenician; for those who have not studied it. "Those" would be most of us who were schooled in the West, and taught to believe that the only important history is Greco/Roman, Anglo/Saxon, and Judeo/Christian.

As a retired professor, I know first hand about the pressure to support the dominant myths of a society. There is also the pressure to support ones own acedemic discipline, to the exclusion of the findings of related disciplines. Failing these, one does not get grants, rank, or tenure.

A convergence of the findings of History, Cultural and Physical Anthropology, Archeology, Genetics, Geology, Linguistics, and Folklore presents compelling evidence for an expanded view.

The mysterious "Indo-Europeans" stemmed from the earliest civilization around what is now called the Black Sea. They were displaced by the deluge at the end of the last Ice Age, when the Bosporus suddenly broke and precipitously flooded the inland lake that was there prior.

The descendents of these people came to be called many names by others; most notably (herein) Phoenicians in the south and Celts in the northwest. Those remaining near the vastly expanded Black Sea also were called many things by others; among them, Scythians and Thracians.

These people established trade routes and settlements ranging from China, throughout Europe, the Levant, and to the Western Hemisphere! Their language, culture, and genes are a part of the heritage in all of these places.

I would like to implore Mr. Holst to expand his history, perhaps in a second volume. He is probably in a position to be independent of political correctness. In the meantime, let me recommend to those interested: "Sailing to Paradise", Jim Bailey, Simon & Shuster, 1994 ... Read more

Product Description
Through an examination of Lebanese literary narratives and musical theater, Constructing Lebanon offers a vehicle for understanding Lebanon's cultural and political evolution as a nation over the last century. It redresses the lack of scholarship on the symbiotic relationship between nation and culture, especially in Arab studies, by presenting both descriptive and prescriptive models of how a nation can be "read" through literary productions.

Elise Salem provides valuable close readings of many Lebanese literary texts written in Arabic, including lesser-known fiction, popular culture narratives, and plays written and produced during the Lebanese civil war and postwar period. Using this framework, Salem examines the construction of nationalist mythology in Lebanon and illustrates how nationalist and regional politics influence cultural productions. Rereading Gibran Khalil Gibran, for example, with the idea of nation in mind reveals that his works are replete with formative ideas on Lebanese identity. Besides analyzing an extensive body of literature from the 20th century, Salem also draws from cultural productions, especially the popular Rahbani and Fayruz musicals that proved to be central to Lebanese consciousness.

This pioneering attempt to propel the study of Lebanese nationalism beyond the confines of ideology and political parties sharpens our understanding of this evolving nation, from its early inception and development to its demise and current reconstruction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Groundbreaking study of Lebanese literature
Salem's work is the first of its kind, and will be the one everybody is responding to for years. It is, quite simply, brilliant.How does the idea of Lebanon emerge in literary texts? What different concepts of Lebanon contest with each other in art and literature?What is Lebanon, and what is a "nation," anyway?The book treats literature, history, and politics together in one lucid, intelligent narrative. Salem's breadth of knowledge about the subject, and her ease and familiarity with the cultural landscape, are impressive. The argument contains a strong critique of power and of business interests that make capital out of war and suffering.

Many of the works of literature, drama, and music Salem discusses are analyzed here for the first time in English-an invaluable resource. Kahlil Gibran, something of a founding father of Lebanese culture, is treated unsentimentally and taken seriously, something that doesn't usually happen at the same time where he is concerned. The musical theater of the Rahbani brothers, the singing voice and iconic figure of Fayruz as well as the music of Marcel Khalife, Majida al-Roumi, Julia Boutros and others, Aql's poetry, the novels of Elias Khoury, Rachid al-Daif, Hanan al-Shaykh, Hoda Barakat, and many more, all get sophisticated critical attention here. Literature of the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990),of the Reconstruction period following the war, and right up to "the elusive present" are evaluated. Gender is always present as a thread of analysis.I am excited by the critique of Lebanese television programming in the satellite age and other aspects of mass media and pop culture-Salem is on the cutting edge of cultural studies.

_Constructing Lebanon_is an ambitious, original, outstanding work. It is also an accessible, interesting book-not just for the specialist in literature or the Middle East, but for any intelligent reader.

The Political Significance of Literature
Political histories of a nation usually ignore its literature or, at most, compress it into an ancillary chapter.For Elise Salem, however, the writings of Lebanese authors are inseparable from the origins of their country and the record of its recent turmoil.A Lebanese native now living in the United States, but frequently returning to the land of her origin, Salem possesses a unique perspective to write such an analysis. She knows the country's brief history and its political complexities intimately.A literary scholar, she demonstrates extensive and perceptive reading of a wide range of fiction, poetry, and drama, as well as awareness of musical theater productions.Her achievement in this book lies in her ability to demonstrate interrelationships, the ways in which literature has been a source of national identity and serves as an ongoing commentary on unsettling events.

Although the book's subject is Lebanon, Salem also hopes that it will be considered a representative study, with a methodology and a manner of understanding that can be applied to other nations.She notes that those who govern rarely consult their nation's body of writing, and she considers that a mistake: "Artists and intellectuals, often historically in a dubious relationship with the state, not only continue to imagine and hence extend the discourse of the nation but, in more palpable way, participate in remembering, recording, and transforming it."

Salem's eloquent Afterword reiterates, frames, and adds a rich dimension of commentary.It concludes with this possibility: "[These] provocative narratives suggest a new language, vocabulary, style, approach, and thematics that expand the possibilities for Lebanon.They are, after all, the nation's stories and, through fictions, the most telling."Literature was central to Lebanon's origin.Salem's hope is that it will be equally important in helping it face its present crises. ... Read more

Product Description
From 1975 to 1990, Lebanon endured one of the most protracted and bloody civil wars of the twentieth century. Sune Haugbolle's timely and often poignant book chronicles the battle over ideas that emerged from the wreckage of that war. While the Lebanese state encouraged forgetfulness and political parties created sectarian interpretations of the war through cults of dead leaders, intellectuals and activists - inspired by the example of truth and reconciliation movements in different parts of the world - advanced the idea that confronting and remembering the war was necessary for political and cultural renewal. Through an analysis of different cultural productions - media, art, literature, film, posters, and architecture - the author shows how the recollection and reconstruction of political and sectarian violence that took place during the war have helped in Lebanon's healing process. He also shows how a willingness to confront the past influenced the popular uprising in Lebanon after the assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. ... Read more

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NOT SINCE THOMAS FRIEDMAN’SFROM BEIRUT TO JERUSALEM IN 1989 HAS A JOURNALIST OFFERED SUCH A POIGNANT AND PASSIONATE PORTRAIT OF LEBANON—A UNIQUELY PLURALIST ARAB COUNTRY STRUGGLING TO DEFEND ITS VIABILITY IN A TURBULENT AND TREACHEROUS MIDDLE EAST.Michael Young, who was taken to Lebanon at age seven by his Lebanese mother after the death of his American father and who has worked most of his career as a journalist there for American publications, brings to life a country in the crossfire of invasions, war, domestic division, incessant sectarian scheming, and often living in fear of its neighbors. Young knows or has known many of the players, politicians, writers, and religious leaders.A country riven by domestic tensions that have often resulted in assassinations, under the considerable sway of Hezbollah (in alliance with Iran and Syria), frequently set upon by Israel and Syria, nearly destroyed by civil war, Lebanon remains an exception among Arab countries because it is a place where liberal instincts and tolerance struggle to stay alive.An important and enduring symbol, Lebanon was once the outstanding example of an (almost) democratic society in an inhospitable, dangerous region—a laboratory both for modernity and violence, as a Lebanese intellectual who was later assassinated once put it.Young relates the growing tension between a domineering Syria and a Lebanese opposition in which charismatic leader and politician Rafiq al-Hariri was assassinated and the Independence Intifada—the Cedar Revolution—broke out. His searing account of his country’s confrontation with its domestic and regional demons is one of hope found and possibly lost. In this stunning narrative, Young tells us what might have been his country’s history, and what it may yet be. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Can anyone explain Lebanon?
I confess I have not quite finished "The Ghosts of Martyrs Square...." but am fascinated so far.I admit some may find it more about Lebanon than they really want to know, but I lived there, very happily, some years ago and returned for a visit in 2002.I maintain a strong affection for the country and its people, mourn for their suffering.I do feel the author, Michael Young (Lebanese/American and long-time resident and reporter in Beirut), goes a long way in making sense of this small, complicated, and important country.It is probably still Phoenician, pragmatic, and determined to outlast its neighbors.

Excellent take on modern day Lebanon, its limitations and possibilities
I have read Michael Young for years on the Daily Star where he has been an editorial writer.He has the unique perspective on Lebanon of being half American and half Lebanese and for having lived in the country during the Civil War years, the years of occupation and now the post Cedar Revolution period that has continued since March 14, 2005.Most people see Lebanon, if at all, as a blip on a radar screen.
Young knows the history and knows the players and this gives him excellent insight into where the country is going since many of the civil war players are now players in this chapter of the country's life.The sectarianism, which many see as a hinderance to the eventual evolution of Lebanon into modernity, Young sees as a possible path toward that future.
Lebanon is the barometer of the entire region.Change Lebanon and change the region.Both sides know this, Iran and the US.Iran has been in the game much longer than has the US.Young touches on this and on the efforts of the US to catch up and to bring Lebanon more toward its natural Western orientation.For years known as the Western window into the East.Young tells us of a future Lebanon as an Eastern Window into the West.A place where the East ever fearful of the ability of the West to swallow them whole, can experience the West and find ways to accommodate their Eastern Ways to the Western culture. This is Lebanon's mission and Young writes it so well.

Dispassionate and Even-Handed
An objective account and analysis of recent Lebanese history with good working explanations of the policies and tactics of the Syrians, Israelis, Maronites, Iranians, Sunnis, Hezbollah, Americans and French.Wouldhave benefited greatly, however, from some photographs of the principle players.A pretty tragic tale in all, which leads one to forecast a pessimistic future.

Beirut 2005 - 2009: A Chance for Democracy Squandered
"A new power rises across the Mideast, advocates for democracy begin to taste success after years of fruitless effort," according to the Post's lead headline on April 17, 2005. The front page picture showed Lebanese columnist Samir Kassir in front of Beirut's Martyrs' Statue, the site of the Independence Uprising that forced an end to 30 years of Syrian occupation of Lebanon.
Reporting from Beirut, Scott Wilson and Daniel Williams wrote: "Suddenly [the Lebanese] were at the cutting edge of the Arab world's democratic spring."
But the Beirut Spring was short-lived, despite the Syrian withdrawal that April. On June 2, Kassir was assassinated and became the second victim, after former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri whose murder, in February, proved to be the spark that started an uprising.
"The taboos were beginning to fall, but the Syrians and their sympathizers had not called it a day," wrote Michael Young in his book The Ghosts of Martyrs Square, which captures the rise and fall of the democracy frenzy in Lebanon between 2005 and 2009.
Young is the opinion page editor at Beirut's The Daily Star. He was born in the United States to an American father and a Lebanese mother. The father prematurely died when Young was seven, and the mother took the boy back to Lebanon where Michael was raised.
In The Ghosts of Martyrs Square, Young does not follow any particular chronological order, which adds to the book's allure. He opens with a story about his friendship with Kassir, an outspoken pro-democracy intellectual whose face later became the uprising's poster.
Young then sums up his understanding of Lebanon, until recently the only Arab country with an elected parliament and government. Young reasons - and rightly so - that unlike other Arab countries where one group muscled its way to power, Lebanon's diverse population of 18 ethno-religious groups resulted in a zero-sum game.
Lebanon's diversity was its weakness too. Because no group could dominate, the system lingered in paralysis. And while Lebanon's diversity allowed the growth of liberal thought, it also made the country an easy prey for its only neighbor Syria.
"The Syrians played a balancing game. They co-opted the older leaders, promoted new ones entirely dependent on Damascus... and hit out against the incorrigibles," Young argued.
In 2000, Syrian autocrat Hafez Assad died and his son Bashar succeeded him. Unlike his cunning father, who ruled Lebanon through his balancing game, Bashar Assad imposed his will through coercion, which he practiced both directly and through Lebanese army officers loyal to him. It was only a matter of time before the Lebanese establishment, created by the end of the civil war in 1990, revolted in the face of Assad and his Lebanese cronies.
In summer 2004, Assad twisted arms to force the extension of the term of his loyalist Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud, much to the explicit opposition of veteran politician Walid Jumblatt and implicit resistance of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. In February 2005, Hariri was murdered.
Young argues that popular frustration resulted in the biggest rally in Lebanon's history. On March 14, 2005, more than one third of Lebanon's four million population took to Martyrs' Square. Lebanon's liberal intellectuals, and later politicians opposed to Syria, helped put a face and give a voice to that movement, which came to be known as March 14.
While the March 14 Movement proved instrumental for winning back Lebanon's independence from the Syrians, it also demonstrated the shortcomings of the Lebanese system unable to build on the 2005 success, as Lebanon remained fractured, thus allowing a Syrian comeback.
"We must cut a deal with Syria, those who went after Hariri won't leave Lebanon so easily," Jumblatt told Young in 2005.
But it would take Jumblatt and March 14 four years before they conceded to the Syrians, and Young skillfully records the events leading to the March 14 demise. These included a 33-day war that Hezbollah started with Israel in July 2006, followed by Hezbollah pulling out of government and instructing its supporters to rally for more than a year in downtown Beirut, shutting down businesses and obstructing government.
In 2007, Lebanon saw more bombs and assassinations, and in May 2008, Hezbollah fighters invaded Beirut and southern Mount Lebanon in a punitive raid that forced March 14 to concede.
Young informatively reports on the UN Security Council formation of a Special Tribunal on Lebanon, designed to bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime of Hariri, Kassir and a dozen other journalists, politicians and security officers.
In 2009, even though March 14 defeated Hezbollah and its allies in parliamentary elections, the group remained powerful enough to bully its opponents and force the formation of a cabinet to its liking. Thus ended the democracy saga in the Middle East.

Great Read
One of the best books I've read in a long time. Finished it in 24 hours. ... Read more