The introduction to the book is a 30-page analysis of the general themes presented in the stories.

    It is the story of a lost world. It begins in 1917, in Lebanon, when I was seven years old.” So opens this haunting memoir by Wadad Makdisi Cortas, who eloquently describes her personal experience of the events that have fractured the Middle East over the past century.Through Cortas’ eyes we experience life in Lebanon under the oppressive French mandate, and her desire to forge an Arab identity based on religious tolerance. We learn of her dedication to the education of women, and the difficulties that she overcomes to become the principal of a school in Lebanon. And in final, heartbreaking detail, we watch as her world becomes rent by the “Palestine question,” Western interference, and civil war.The World I Loved is both an elegy on Lebanon and her people, and the unforgettable story of one woman’s journey from hope to sorrow as she bears painful witness to the undoing of her beloved country by sectarian and religious division.

    The first volume in a series that examines the spread of cultures from the East into Europe

    Abounding in vegetables, grains, fresh herbs and spices, poultry, and lamb, it yields meals replete with robust, earthy flavors. In "Classic Lebanese Cuisine, "Chef Kamal Al-Faqih presents 170 dazzling recipes that reflect the full breadth of authentic Lebanese cuisine. Featuring favorites such as baba ghannouj, tabbouli, and kibbi, this book also presents Al-Faqih's signature classics, like London broil layered with pita and garlic yogurt, and heart-healthy fire-roasted wheat with lamb. With step-by-step instructions accompanied by full-color photographs throughout, this book makes Lebanese cuisine accessible to everyone who seeks to reproduce their favorite flavors and dishes--from the merely curious to more experienced cooks.

    The world of these stories is ours, with the same occupations and warsa world that would be a cemetery were it not also a place where taxis are yellow flowers floating down the avenues. From the collections title story, a long meditation on history and war, power and poetry, to its concluding tale, a strangely quiet vision of a tree floating in a Damascus stream, Etel Adnans painterly vision, her cosmopolitan flexibility, and her philosophical bent are on full display. This is a woman, after all, trained in philosophy at the Sorbonne, Harvard, and the University of California at Berkeley, who became a painter, and then a poet. Her voice comes to us as something the opposite of her title: She is a master of light and revelation, of language, variety, and color.

    Beyroutes presents an exploded view of a city which lives so many double lives and figures in so many truths, myths and historical falsifications that for navigating its streets and its corners you need a whole new set of rules of engagement. Visiting the city with this intimate book as your guide makes you feel disoriented, appreicative, judgemental and perhaps eventaully reconciliatory.ARCHIS Never Walk Alonely Planet series

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