The War for Lebanon, 1970 1985

A nice work and very relevant about the Civil War in Lebanon. This showed the various fighting between Shiite, Sunni, Druze, and Christian factions. This war destroyed one of the few functioning democracies in the Middle East and brought in the armies of Syria, Israel, and the PLO. Lebanon has never been the same. Theocracy is rearing its ugly head through the Shiite, and the Christians have been marginalized resulting in mass emigration. The Palestinians continue to play a role in Lebanon's future, and Syria is still assasinating national politicians. The Middle East wars basically destroyed the demographics of the population resulting in the outside influences of her regional neighbors. It was interesting to hear Asad in the appendix justify his interference in Lebanon's internal affairs by saying they are a member Arab state, but it was strictly forbidden for the U.S. or other western countries to intervene. This is a nice authoritative read about the causes of Lebanon's Civil War. It shows how each group overplayed their hand, and caused the death of thousands.

This is a good book, and few exist on the subject. A short easy, consice, and pleasent read not full of polemics or bias. It covers the main actors involved, the struggle and the outcome. The Lebanese Civil war began in 1976 with the attempted assasination of Pierre Gemayel, a Lebanese Christian leader. In retaliation a cycle of violence broke out originally between Phalange militias and PLO elements, widening into a costly wider war, that dragged in all communities eventually dividing the nation between christian and Muslim. In the ensuing violence and massacres more than 100,000 may have been killed. The Syrians intervened in the first year and in 1982 so did the Israelis. After the Israeli withdrawel from Beirut Lebanon became a Syrian colony accept for the south which was jointly contested by israel and Shia Islamists, and the north which was largely given over to the Maronites. However more than 200,000(mostly Christians) were forced to flee in the period. This is an important work. Seth J. Frantzman

Itamar Rabinovich's The War for Lebanon is by far one of the most authoritative works on the Lebanese civil war. It is a quick survey that gives background information about most of the players, whether international, regional or domestic. The account is concise, however, and sacrifices some details for the sake of brevity and coherence. Rabinovich's style is rich and attractive. For readers familiar with the Middle East, the book would serve as a fresh reminder and wouldn't take more than a couple of evening to finish. Another drawback is that the book covers the period 1975-1984 without covering the rest of the civil war that ended on 1990. Perhaps an updated version with the war's conclusion and perhaps some analysis of the aftermath of the war are currently needed. If you are looking for the history of the Lebanese civil war, this book is the one you are looking for. If you want some more history of the war, get Kamal Salibi's A House of Many Mansions as a supplement. Between the two books, you would have a complete and comprehensive idea of the Lebanese modern politics and its history.