A House of Many Mansions by Kamal Salibi

In so doing, he illuminates important facets of his country's present and future. Salibi offers a major reinterpretation of Lebanese history and provides remarkable insights into the dynamic of Lebanon's recent conflict. He shows that Lebanon cannot afford this divisiveness, that in order to develop and maintain a sense of political unity, it is necesary to distinuish fact from fiction and then build on what is real in the common experience of both groups. How can this be? In the light of modern scholarship, a famous Lebanese writer and scholar examines the historical myths on which his country's warring communities have based their conflicting visions of the Lebanese nation. But paradoxically the faction-ridden Lebanese, both Christians and Muslims, have never shown a keener consciousness of common identity.

'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.Today Lebanon is one of the world's most divided countries. He also gives an account of how the images of communities which underlie modern nationalism are created. In the course of his lively exposition, Salibi offers a major reinterpretation of Lebanese history and provides insights into the dynamic of Lebanon's recent conflict.

But Lebanon cannot afford these conflicting visions if it is to develop and maintain a sense of political community. Both groups have used nationalist ideas in a destructive game, which at a deeper level involves archaic loyalties and tribal rivalries. From the beginning Muslims and Christians have disagreed fundamentally over their country's historical legitimacy: Christians on the whole have affirmed it, Muslims have tended to emphasize Lebanon's place in a broader Arab history. The Lebanese have always lacked a common vision of their past. Salibi examines, in the light of modern scholarship, the historical myths on which his country's warring communities have based their conflicting visions of the Lebanese nation.

How can this be? The Lebanese historian Kamal S. Today Lebanon is one of the world's most divided countries - if it remains a country at all.

A House of Many Mansions by Kamal Salibi