books about history of lebanon

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I read a book of his nearly five years ago for a History of Lebanon course, when I was still in Lebanon, and it just left a bad taste in my mouth. I can't quote specific passages because I don't have a photographic memory, sorry It is my opinion that he is not objective at all, but then again what do you expect from history writers.

[Souss]

I thought he did a great job and consider him a reference in the field.

Well if you come across anything, please let me know :D

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sure thing ;)
I have not written him off completely. At least if I had to choose between him and a foreigner writing on Lebanon, I think he'd be a better authority on the subject.

[Moorani]

in my opinion, only two Salibi books are worth the read
1. Modern History of Lebanon
2. Maronite Historians of Medieval Lebanon

also Philip K. Hitti
1. Lebanon in History
2. History of Syria, Including Lebanon and Palestine

Farid el Khazen
Breakdown of the State in Lebanon: 1967-1976

I would also add Thomas Friedman's "From Beirut to Jerusalem," even thought it is not a pure historical account.

I personally don't like Robert Fisk's book or Jonathan Randal's book on the War in Lebanon since they are too subjective.

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Originally Posted by Moorani

I personally don't like Robert Fisk's book or Jonathan Randal's book on the War in Lebanon since they are too subjective.

I was about to say I agreed with you, when I noticed you mentioned Friedman. I think Friedman is much worse than Fisk in terms of objectivity. Friedman's book is not "not a pure historical account", it's not a historical account at all! At least Fisk tries to include factual detail, while Friedman's work displays a classic case of Orientalism. Friedman's book is a personal blog at best, yet reviews treat it as some kind of authority on the subject Needless to say, I regretted hastily buying it after I read the thing..

[kappa273]

reading kamal salibi,

i get the following idea... (mainly from house of many mansions and the tawrat attat min jazirat al 3arab)

this guy is trying to introduce new ideas. he's trying to write the revolutionary book..

in the first one, he actually questions the written history of lebanon.. he questions the patriotism of many who claim they are lebanese.. he questions everything about lebanon and the surrounding region..
if what he's talking about is correct, it would be a disaster.. it means that the 200,000 persons who died in the last war. well simply, they died for nothing....

in the second book, it is even more controversial.. he thinks that the jews up to the time when they were taken to babylon were living in the western part of what is now KSA and not in palestine.. after the liberation by darius from babylon, they decided to go to palestine rather than the western coast of what is now KSA simply because palestine was more prosperous.. also if this book were true, it means that the last 60 years of arab-israeli conflicts were built on lies.....

the problem with these 2 books is that we as simple readers and not scholars and history researcher cannot argue with him...
his references are all very old, written in syriac, old greek, latin, hebrew, old arabic and many other old and dead languages...

also in his books, he always tries to discredit the famous authors in a way trying to tell the regular reader who might get confused between his books and books of other writers that i am right and they are wrong..


despite all this, i think kamal salibi is a great history writer and i think his books are a must.. whether u believe what he writes or not, many of the stories u see in his books apply still today....

as for the history of lebanon.... the most controversial remains the last 30 years of the civil war...
i have tried to read many books written by local authors and they were useless, so biased and subjective...

i found out that the best book was actually robert fisk's pity the nation.. and despite all that was said about thomas friedman, i still think that from beirut to jerusalem is a good source of information....

[Jk2k]

what do you think about samir kassir's book, I want to buy a book about the history of the war. I was thinking of buying this one

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Originally Posted by kappa273

his references are all very old, written in syriac, old greek, latin, hebrew, old arabic and many other old and dead languages...

So he is fluent in all these languages? That's amazing I'd die a happy woman if I master Hebrew and at least one of Ancient Greek and Latin. Also, modern Arabic is hard enough as it is, let alone old old Arabic. Just wow.

My opinion on Salibi was based on my course's assigned book (The Modern History of Lebanon). I really did not enjoy reading it and I found my professor in the class to be far more entertaining. Wish I could remember his name though.

But the two books you mentioned seem worth checking out, I'll give him another shot.

and despite all that was said about thomas friedman, i still think that from beirut to jerusalem is a good source of information....

Ehh.. I found it to be more of a traveler's writings rather than those of a scholar's. I wouldn't rely on his book for factual information. Anecdotes in the first person, yes. Experiences of a Westerner in the Middle East, sure. But not FACTS. Personally, I despise his writings (I'm talking about his articles, not necessarily this book).

[achaaban]

Originally Posted by editha

books about history of lebanon
can anyone suggest a good book to read about the history of lebanon, i've seen a few on amazon.com but i can't make up my mind. there's one titled: "The Breakdown of the State in Lebanon, 1967-1976" by farid khazen and another one i found interesting is "The Conscience of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Etienne Sakr (Abu-Arz (Cass Series--Israeli History, Politics, and Society)"by Mordechai Nisan, has anyone read these ???? please give me your opinions.
thanks.

It depends on what type of history books you are looking at and which era. Are you looking for political history of modern Lebanon for example? if So I suggest you read

Rabil, Robert G Embattled Neighbors, Syria, Israel, & Lebanon [2003]

Pipes, Daniel Greater Syria the History of an Ambition [1990]

Ehteshami, Anoushiravan and Hinnebusch Raymond A. Syria and Iran, Middle Powers in a penertrated regional system [1997]

Khalaf, Samir, Civil and Uncivil Violence in Lebanon, A History of the Internationalization of Communal Conflict [2002]

You might wonder why I am giving you books that focuses on Syria and Iran; That is because that you cannot view Lebanon's history outside of the context of regional conflicts and political claims.

[Moorani]

I agree with achaaban about reading on Syria and Iran, and also possibly Israel. But the two books mentioned above, "The Breakdown of the State in Lebanon" by Farid el Khazen, and "The Conscience of Lebanon: Etienne Sakr" are both excellent works of historical happenings during the Lebanese War of 1975-1990.