Starting with the formation of Ottoman Lebanon in the sixteenth century, Fawwaz Traboulsi covers the growth of Beirut as a capital for trade and culture through the nineteenth century. The main part of the book concentrates on Lebanon's development in the twentieth century and the conflicts that led up to the major wars in the 1970s and 1980s. Lebanon in the twentieth century has seen turbulent times, the results of which we still see today.

This is a rich history of Lebanon that brings to life its politics, its people, and the crucial role that it has always played in world affairs.

"Skillfully weaving together social, political, cultural, and economic history, this deeply informed and penetrating study provides a rich understanding of [this] vibrant, tragic, but ever hopeful [country]. . . . Fascinating."

---Noam Chomsky

"Fawwaz Trabulsi [sic] 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