'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 '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 '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 '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