Historical Dictionary of Lebanon / Edition 1

by As'ad AbuKhalil

Overview

The Lebanese civil war has made the study of Lebanon a difficult endeavor. The complexity of Lebanese society is the result of a unique political system and a richly diverse populace. This volume will help those who wish to delve beyond the superficial journalistic accounts of Lebanese society and culture. Entries encompass information about various subject areas, including political leaders, poets, artists, actors, writers, musicians, singers, important events and places, political parties, militia groups, foreign interests, and military elements. It is important to note that this dictionary does not exclude women, as is often the case with historical works on Lebanon. It escapes the narrow confines of a male-gendered history of Lebanon.

Many of the personalities presented in this text are not presently known to English readers, and the volume easily bridges the widening gap between Arabic and English approaches to the study of Lebanese history. It also offers crucial information about rarely discussed issues such as AIDS, homosexuality, and prostitution, and delineates the ethnicities that exist in the country, making clear the balances of power that propelled Lebanon into civil war and dragged it back toward peace again. The volume includes an extensive bibliographic section with sources in Arabic, English, French, and German. An essential volume on a country that has occupied center-stage in the last decade of Middle Eastern politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810833951
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/16/1998
Series:	Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East , #30
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.78(h) x 0.88(d)

About the Author

As'ad AbuKhalil (Ph.D., Georgetown University) currently teaches political science at California State University, Stanislaus. He has written numerous articles on Middle Eastern politics in English, Arabic, and German.

Editorial Reviews

Presents information otherwise difficult for English readers to find...well cross-referenced.

Research and Reference Book News

Like so many of Scarecrow's historical dictionaries, this title plugs an obvious gap and it will be a welcome addition to Middle East collections.

Reference Reviews

...very useful and handy research tool...a commendable work that provides great help to students, scholars, and diplomats.

Journal of Palestine Studies

...indispensable...listings are properly researched and fairly presented...as collator and commentator, AbuKhalil has done an admirable job.

American Reference Books Annual

Especially valuable are the cross-references from Arabic to English names of organizations and groups and the many entries for newspapers and journals...An outstanding volume in this series, with thorough but intelligible description and analysis of a very complex subject.

Ohio State University D. S. Straley

AbuKhalil's Historical Dictionary of Lebanon is a step towards a more sober and informed approach to the history and politics of Lebanon. His knowledge of the country and its politics is vast and will be readily apparent to readers of his dictionary. There is much to be gained and learned from this work...

MESA Bulletin

...indispensable...listings are properly researched and fairly presented...as collator and commentator, AbuKhalil has done an admirable job.--American Reference Books Annual

...very useful and handy research tool...a commendable work that provides great help to students, scholars, and diplomats.--Journal of Palestine Studies

AbuKhalil's Historical Dictionary of Lebanon is a step towards a more sober and informed approach to the history and politics of Lebanon. His knowledge of the country and its politics is vast and will be readily apparent to readers of his dictionary. There is much to be gained and learned from this work...--MESA Bulletin

From the Publisher

Like so many of Scarecrow's historical dictionaries, this title plugs an obvious gap and it will be a welcome addition to Middle East collections.

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Like so many of Scarecrow's historical dictionaries, this title plugs an obvious gap and it will be a welcome addition to Middle East collections.

"American Reference Books Annual"

...indispensable...listings are properly researched and fairly presented...as collator and commentator, AbuKhalil has done an admirable job.

American Reference Books Annual (ARBA)

...very useful and handy research tool...a commendable work that provides great help to students, scholars, and diplomats.

Journal Of Palestine Studies

Presents information otherwise difficult for English readers to find on the Middle Eastern region/country from the Canaanite occupation in 2800 BC to the Pope's visit in 1997, with particular focus on the civil war of the 1970s and 1980s. Also considers such sensitive topics as AIDS, homosexuality, and prostitution. AbuKhalil (political science, California State U.- Stanislaus) combines English and Arabic approaches and includes in the bibliography sources in Arabic, English, French, and German. Well cross-referenced. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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