Friday 17 August 2007

Beirut 1920


Rebuilding Beirut following the famine of 1917
Picture: Aziz Zabbal/Roberte Zabbal Sawaya Collection
Copyright © Arab Image Foundation

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry irritating question from an ignoramus.

What are the best books on the relationship between sectarian identity and class on Lebanon?

Design said...

Dear John
The best book in print is: A History of Modern Lebanon by Fawwaz Traboulsi (http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do?id=290301).

Traboulsi gives a very detailed description of sectarian carve up in the 1980s.

In my view the best book ever written on Lebanon is: The Struggle Over Lebanon, by Tabitha Petran. There are second hand copies available.

For anyone wanting a sober history (and one that deals with the rebellion of workers and peasants) this is a bible. She also wrote a very good book on Syria as well (if you can get a copy).

I will be soon be posting a discussion document from the Lebanese leftist group Tymat that is the beginning of a theoretical evaluation of this relation. (We found the question of Syria workers added a new dimension to a complex interplay of sect, nationalism and class)

regards
Simon