A remarkable combination of war reporting and analysis by an author who has witnessed the carnage of Beirut for twenty-five years, Fisk, the first journalist to whom bin Laden announced his jihad against the U.S., is one of the world's most fearless and honored foreign correspondents. He spares no one in this saga of the civil war and subsequent Israeli invasion: the PLO, whose thuggish behavior alienated most Lebanese; the various Lebanese factions, whose appalling brutality spared no one; the Syrians, who supported first the Christians and then the Muslims in their attempt to control Lebanon; and the Israelis, who tried to install their own puppets and, with their 1982 invasion, committed massive war crimes of their own. It includes a moving finale that recounts the travails of Fisk's friend Terry Anderson who was kidnapped by Hezbollah and spent 2,454 days in captivity. Fully updated to include the Israeli withdrawl from south Lebanon and Ariel Sharon's electoral victory over Ehud Barak, this edition has sixty pages of new material and a new preface. "Robert Fisk's enormous book about Lebanon's desperate travails is one of the most distinguished in recent times."—Edward Said

    Though primarily a surrogate war over Palestine, in recent years the conflict has also become one between different Lebanese groups which can only be understood in the light of these groups' fears of being excluded from the country's political and social power-centres. The book's main theme is the problem of conflict and conflict regulation in Lebanon. How were conflicts regulated peacefully in pre-war Lebanon? How do the Lebanese - political and military leaders on the one hand and ordinary citizens on the other - view events in their country? What are their aspirations, and what do they believe they must realistically settle for? Can peaceful co-existence between Lebanon's different communities be re-established? The answers to these questions are of fundamental importance not only to Lebanon but the whole Middle East peace process. Professor Hanf's discussion of them is based on extensive first-hand research, as well as a wide range of primary and secondary sources.

    A New York Times Book Review Notable Book An intensely personal yet timelessly crafted portrait of life in a worn-torn city, Beirut Fragments spans the years of the civil war in Lebanon, 1975-1990. When thousands fled, Jean Said Makdisi chose to stay. She raised three sons, taught English and Humanities at Beirut University College-and she wrote. She records the breakdown of society and the physical destruction of Beirut, the massacres of Sabra and Shatila, the Israeli Invasion, everyday acts of terrorism, the struggle to maintain ordinary routines amid chaos, and the incredible spirit of a people. A Palestinian, a Christian, a woman who has lived in Jerusalem, Cairo, the United States, and Beirut, Jean Said Makdisi uses the migrations of her own life as a paradigm which helps elucidate many of the conflicts in the region. The new afterword covers the postwars years, from the last ceasefire to the present day.

    The author analyzes the PLO's relations with the Lebanese government, its role in the civil war, and the consequences of escalating conflict with Israel.