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| Excellent Book
2008-02-18
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| 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.
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| Identity Crisis Conquered
2008-01-16
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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.
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| A good Primer
2007-12-18
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| Very happy with this book. There is not much in the way of full monographs on Lebanese history (at least not pre-1970s history), and this book offers a concise summary... in fact, my only real critique is that the text is so concise, so much-a-summary and less analysis. Still, a useful tool for anyone with an interest in Lebanese history.
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| Detailed Exploration of Lebanon's History
2006-07-03
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| It is an excellent book that provides a clarification of the misconceptions about Lebanon's historical conflicts.
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| The multi-faceted history of Lebanon.
2006-02-28
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| This book isn't so much a history of Lebanon as about how the Maronites, the Druze, the Sunnites, and the Shi'ites hold different views of the history of Lebanon. It is difficult to understand one's history if there is little concensus about what is fact and what is myth. It is this latter aspect, fact versus myth, that Salibi explores. He attempts to outline the history of Lebanon as viewed by each of the major religious/political parties and detail what is supported by historical evidence and what is not. Overall, I feel that he has succeeded. Several points of particular interest include the fact that no group in Lebanon today has any strong claim to have descended from the ancient Phoenicians, and Salibi's discussion regarding the complications of Arabic nationalism versus Islamism is particularly enlightening. If I had any complaint about this book, it is that Salibi spends too much of the text on the Maronite and Druze communities, and not enough on the Shi'ite or Sunnite. This is a rather dense book packed with details and information, and I would not consider it a light read, but it is well worth the time invested.
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