Lebanon Book

Presents information on the history, geography, people, culture, and contemporary issues of the country of Lebanon.

Kate Pourshariati - Children's Literature

This information book about the nation of Lebanon has many useful reference points and seems in general to give a good overview of the country. Among the book's strengths is the fact that the author has used an Arabic historian, Kamal Salibi, as her primary source for modern history, giving a more indigenous view. There are a few particular problems that need to be mentioned. While the modern period is very well covered, the medieval period and particularly the atrocities of the crusades by European invaders are glossed over. Saladin is mentioned briefly in a later section, but an opportunity was lost to discuss his importance in this period of history. Images are problematic, particularly when credits mention only the image bank from which they are purchased. There is a picture on page 20 of "the prophet Muhammed," which seems to be a European etching, with no sense of awareness that Muslims believe imagery of their prophet to be sacrilegious. The image is unnecessary, since it adds nothing to the text. The sections on modern authors are excellent, other than a typo on p.85 (Hanan al-Shakn, later spelled correctly as al-Shaykh in the bibliography). An excellent section on Khalil Gibran makes one thirst for more information on Lebanese Americans, the largest Arab-American populace. The webliography is commendable. This book is recommended as a general source of information on modern Lebanon, with a wish for more information and editing in the next edition. Part of the "Modern Nations of the World Series." 2003, Lucent Books/Gale,