This is the first history of Lebanon from the Ottoman Empire to the modern period. Based on previously inaccessible archives, it is a fascinating account of one of the world's most fabled countries.
Starting with the formation of Ottoman Lebanon in the 16th century, Traboulsi covers the growth of Beirut as a capital for trade and culture through the 19th century, it's independence and experiences as a republic, before moving onward to Lebanon's development in the late 20th century and the conflicts that led up to the major wars in the 1970s and 1980s and beyond.
This is a stunning history of Lebanon over five centuries, bringing to life its politics, its people and the crucial role that it has always played in world affairs.
About the Author
Fawwaz Traboulsi is Associate Professor teaching history and politics at the Lebanese American University in Beirut. He is the editor in chief of the pan-Arab political-cultural quarterly Bidayat, published in Beirut and the author of A History of Modern Lebanon (Pluto, 2012).
What People Are Saying
'Puts Lebanon's long war into a context that makes it comprehensible and, perhaps, inevitable. Everyone who is curious about that beautiful and tormented country should read his history, one of the best yet." Charles Glass, author of The Northern Front and The Tribes Triumphant
'Skillfully weaving together social, political, cultural and economic history, this deeply informed and penetrating study provides a rich understanding of the vibrant, tragic, but ever hopeful Lebanese 'door to East and West'." Noam Chomsky
'This is a unique work. Fawwaz Traboulsi provides a compelling account of Lebanon's emergence as a state, a critical appraisal of its autonomy, a pathbreaking analysis of its social origins in the intimate and ever changing relationship of caste and class." Irene Gendzier, Professor of History, Boston University
'Traboulsi writes what has eluded us for a long time, a history of modern lebanon that includes the civil war and post civil war periods." Maya Mikdashi, Jadaliyya
Table of Contents
Introduction
Acknowledgements
Chronology
Glossary
Section One: Ottoman Lebanon
1. The Emirate of Mount Lebanon (1523--1842)
2. The Bloody Death of the Muqata`ji System (1842--1861)
3. Grandeur and Misery of the Mutasarrifiya (1861--1915)
4. Beirut, Capital of Trade and Culture (1820--1918)
Section Two: State and Society
5. Dialectics of Attachment and Detachment (1915--1920)
6. From Mandate to Independence (1920--1943)
7. The Merchant Republic (1943--1952)
8. The Pro-Western Authoritarianism of Kamil Chamoun (1952--1958)
9. Shihabism and the Difficult Autonomy of the State (1958--1970)
10. The Pre-War Crises (1968--1975)
Section Three: the Wars of Lebanon
11. Reform by Arms (1975--1976)
12. The Longest Coup d’Etat (1977--1982)
13. The War Order (1983--1990)
14. Ambiguities and Contradictions of the Taif Agreement
Bibliography
Notes
Index