I would like to say that everyone should read this book. This is a very easy book to read and can be finished in one sitting (88 pgs). The truth of the matter is that most Americans are too lazy to read and those that can could care less about the plight of the Palestinians half a world away. My thoughts on this book are as follows. If you have any doubts as to which side is truly the "terrorists" in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict this book should help with your decision. The accounts of the survivors of the massacres at Sabra and Shatila are horrific and stunning. I sit and write this review and find it inconceivable that the architects of this ethnic cleansing have never been brought to justice, one is now the Prime Minister of Israel (Ariel Sharon)! In all fairness both sides are guilty of civilian deaths throughout the stuggle, in wars the non-combatants always suffer heavy losses. The carnage the Israeli Defense Forces allowed the Phalangists to inflict upon the refugee camps of Beirut are a different story altogether. What transpired under the blessing of the Israeli military brass are considered crimes against humanity according to the Nuremberg Principals and people must be educated about it. The author of the book, Amnon Kapeliouk, did an excellent job of bringing the inadequacies of the ensuing Kahan Commission report to the foreground. Read the book and pray for justice.

This short and brief book gives a cursory look at the life and times of St. Sharbel. The chapters are very short (some are only a page long or so) but are very inspirational. The writing level and style is far from sophistocated and academic, and is very digestable. A good resource for those interested in the Maronite Rite Catholic Church and our saints.

I am a Lebanese-American who did NOT grow up speaking Arabic. I was so pleased to find Spoken Lebanese because I really wanted to be able to say a few words to my Lebanese friends. The contents of this book are excellent. There are so many wonderful expression in Arabic that we don't have in English ie. what to say to someone when they return home from a trip, expressions of sympathy or congratulations. The only problem is that the tape contains NO ENGLISH and the dialogs in the book are not translated line for line in English. This makes it impossible to listen to the tapes in the car and know what you are saying. I also had a hard time figuring out what the dialogs in the book were saying. I hope that Dr. Feghali will go back to the drawing board and add the necessary English components to create a first class book. Until then, mine just sits on the shelf.

This is an excellent book in that it is faithful to Lebanese phonology and syntax. It does not try to Arabize the Lebanese "dialect" in order to make it more acceptable to learners of "Arabic." However, I thought that an introduction to, and a use of LEBANESE script would have been more effective than using the various symbols the author has concocted.
The Lebanese language already has a script, which was developped in the 1950s by the Lebanese linguist and philosopher Said Akl. I think Dr. Feghali should have used it to facilitate the learners' aquisition of this beautiful and wonderfully athletic language (which, by the way, should NOT be referred to as an "Arabic dialect".
I don't know of any Frenchmen arguing that they speak a Latin dialect. Why should then the Lebanese, and the author of all people, denigrate their language and call it "Arabic".
I highly recommend this book, but I only wish it was written in Lebanese

I used this in a UCLA class and found it very useful. The bad thing is that there is no alphabetical index of words, but if you learn everything in this book you will be able to speak a lot of Levantine arabic! It is all transliterated, there is no Arabic writing. The tape is also very helpful though they speak a bit too fast. I would still highly recommend it.

A good account of the modern history of Lebanon. The author shows he is clearly an expert on 20th century Lebanon and the intricacies of modern lebanese politics. A major flaw, however, is the abscence of any significant reference to the massacres of 1860 (an attempt perhaps to minimalize them). More importantly, his reinterpretation of the history of the Maronites before the 19th century is not based on any new facts, which strips it of its scholarly value. In this regard the book becomes a vehicle for the author's opinions without adding much to what is known about lebanese or maronite history. He would have done better had he concentrated on Lebanon in the modern times.

I found the book very good and neutral. Concerning the comments of Abdel Hussein Hussein, I would say that he did not understand the main lesson of the book. Using the typical stereotype reaction by saying: "The Maronites should understand..." Mr. Hussein just committed the same mistake that was pinpointed by Kamal Salibi. I think it is time to wake up and understand that while Maronite, Sunni and Chiaa leaders were always hand in hand in securing silently their own personal interests, they where at the same time convincing people, such as Mr. Hussein, that the community was at risk and they should react (Just note that the worst combats during the Lebanese war were inter-community ones)

Those who know Kamal Salibi, know that he is not affiliated with any Lebanese political group or party and that's what shoots Salibi's review of the Lebanese history up high.
Being an academic historian, Salibi wipes out popular versions of the Lebanese history and replaces them with a more analytical, critical, and well-researched version. In the heydey of a never ending debate about the identity of the Lebanese people, an objective historical record is highly needed.
The Maronites should understand that they do not come from a different ethnic stock. They must thouroughly read their historical texts and subjet them to historical analysis. Maronite history has become similar to a religious faith: they are not ready to open up for historical analysis.
Salibi does not favor one group more than another in this book. He only classifies groups according to the available texts and what he gets in conclusion is a different story about the history of Lebanon which might be sad, but true.
The anonymous reviewer who scorns Salibi for this book is apparently writing with the current political situation (the Syrians influencing Lebanese politics) in the back of his mind. This kind of review is what historians call biased history. Salibi never suggests that Lebanon must become a Syrian province, the reviewer reached to this conclusion by him/herself.

This book is a place to start at best. The main part of Middle Eastern cook that I find enjoyable is the use of fresh produce and spices. This book calls for dried spices at times. The dishes don't produce the food that I remember eating growing up with my family. The book is not a total loss, however. The spinach pies are acceptable. There are many other books out there that I would recommend first!

A Taste of Lebanon gives you authentic Lebanese receipes the way these dishes are supposed to be made. The foods of Lebanon, although similar to Syria and other countries in the region, are unique. This book captures the way true a Lebanese cooks.

A perfeect book for Lebanese-American children or grand children that grew up eating this food and now want to make it themsleves.

This was my first Middle Eastern cookbook and even though I now own many others, I still use this one the most. I find the recipes easy to make and they leave very little margin for error. I didn't know how to cook before I had this book; nevertheless all of the dishes I have made from it have been delicious. I am not Middle Eastern in origin but I have been to the Arab world and have tasted the food. I love Middle Eastern food, I love this book, and I highly recommend it.

I am somewhat disappointed with this book even though it covers this particular conflict thoroughly. The problem is the pro-Israeli bias which is not even subtle. This is reflected in the text and some of the captions of the otherwise good photographs. Even the plates show drawings of heroic looking Israeli troops and frightened lebanese militiamen and Syrian troops. Authors should seek whenever possible to analyse complex problems such as the Lebanese Civil War in a balanced and scholarly way. My own perception is that this book does not follow these basic principles.

For those with curiosity about all the factions involved this book will be helpful. This book details the complex factional civil war in Lebanon, the Palestinian occupation of the south, the Israeli invasion, and the foreign intervention attempt to make peace. The events covered here follow on from those covered in the two earlier volumes The Israeli Army in the Middle East Wars, 1948-1973, and Arab Armies in the Middle East Wars, 1948-1973.
The rivalry between Israel and the surrounding Arab nations goes back before WW II with the 1917 Balfour Declaration that a homeland for the Jews would be established in Palestine. This was done in the wake of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire without consulting the Arabic peoples of Palestine.
After much unrest in the 1930s matters came to a head in 1948 after the British left and Israel was proclaimed, the surrounding Arabic states invaded Palestine. The resulting war caused many of the Palestinian Arabs to flee the conflict. The resulting de facto partition resulting from the Israeli victory led to four more major ground wars and ongoing border raids and terrorism.
But their return was not to be allowed but even more tragically, they were kept in refugee camps and not allowed to disperse or assimilate in the rest of the Arab world in a manner similar to that done by the displaced persons who fled Eastern Europe in 1945. Now, several generations on, the desires of the Palestinians to return, destroy the state of Israel, and reclaim the land of their origin, have festered for so long that no rational solution seems in sight. At various times the Israeli's neighbors have backed or opposed or expelled the Palestinian forces in response to their own internal political imperatives. Thus, the Egyptians have signed a peace with Israel, while the rest have not. Syrians, Saudis, and others have continued to offer them refuge and aid while the Kingdom of Jordan expelled them all in "Black September" 1970, an event which led to the raid on the Olympic delegation in 1972.
No matter on what side your sympathy lies, hope of peace is still remote, and all concerned victims of this conflict deserve the prayers and good wishes of the world.
The color plates are of the usual high quality and, along with the Israeli, Lebanese, and other local forces, cover the French, Italian, and US Marines sent to seperate the warring factors along the Green Line in Beirut.

I'd read THe Love Talker before and didn't think too much of it but I figured maybe I was too judgemental, but then I read this one and I don't think these books are all that great. There is practically nothing on character development or any love growing...ooh I meet a guy and ooh I'm in love with one and not the other because...God alone knows why...
Anywayz, I'm glad mine was a used copy! It was very boring.

Dinah is on a tour of the Holy Land. Her ailing father was unable to make the trip, so she is sure to save up as many memories as possible for the biblical scholar. On her first night, she hears an argument and what appears to be a murder. She calls for help and this sets in motion a series of events that she may never forget, if she survives it all.

I really enjoyed this book, it reminds me of her novels as Barbara Michaels without the supernatural element that seems to run through those. It starts out slowly, but quickly picks up speed and is very hard to put down at the end.

Many E. Peters fans have found that her strongest works are the series books, especially Amelia and Vicky Bliss (though Jaqueline Kirby does have her admirers). The non-series aren't so good in general, partly because they're all earlier books, and partly because having to wrap characters up in one go seemed to encourage her to make them flatter.
If you're out of Amelias and want something new for a change, this is one of her better non-series books. Interesting (more than the Jackal's Head) and fun (more than 400 Rabbits).
Camelot Caper and Legend in Green Velvet are decent choices too.

This bookd paints hezbollah in a very benign manner. The author goes to great detail to explain how hezbollah helps the lebanese people. I did not know much about hezbollah before i red this book. I was interested in learning why they were among the world's most feared terrorist groups. This book did not do that for me. From the little i do know about this book it turns the tiger into a mouse. If you're interested in reading about how hezbollah really isnt that bad and Israel is the devil, Buy this book. If you're not keep searching for a good book on hezbollah, I've yet to find one.

I certainly agree with the others who have written reviews for this book in that it is very pro-Hezbollah / sympathetic to Hezbollah. The underlying theme of this book seems to be that Israel brought this upon themselves. Even though the book may be skewed toward the Hezbollah perspective, I still think it is an important book to read for anyone who is trying to learn more about the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to be familiar with the different perspectives of the conflict. One quick comment on the writing style: I thought the book was well written and easy to read. It flowed pretty smoothly and I found it to be a page-turner (which is a pleasant surprise in comparison to some of the other books I have been assigned to read for class).

IN THIS HIGHLY READABLE BOOK,AUTHOR HALA JABER GOES BEHIND THE VEIL OF HEZBOLLAH TO TELL THE READER THAT NOT ALL WE READ IN THE WEST IS QUITE TRUE ABOUT THIS GROUP.HOSTAGES,SUICIDE BOMBERS ETC..ITS ALL IN HERE BUT SO ARE THE SCHOOLS,HOSPITALS AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE THAT THE GROUP HAS BUILT UP OVER THE YEARS.SHE EXPLAINS CLEARLY AND OBJECTIVELY WHY ISRAEL,WHICH OCCUPIES 10% OF LEBANESE LAND,HAVE TAKEN MANY OF THEIR YOUNG SOLDIERS HOME IN BODY BAGS.I WOULD HOPE THAT THIS BOOK IS READ BY FUTURE PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS ASWELL AS THEIR INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENTS.VERY ENLIGHTENING!

In fact, it's been said that likely didn't write most of it. The production of this play performed at my university is generally considered to be the worst play performed on our stake in the last five years. Plot threads are left untouched, dialogue is uninteresting for the most part, etc. People in the audience either slept, left during the intermission, or pretended they were enjoying themselves. When you are in a play, usually people you run into on campus have something polite to say about the play. The best comment I got was, "You were OK, but I didn't understand what the play was trying to do with your character." Pericles does have some good scenes, but they are so scattered that the play isn't worth sitting through to get to them. Only for those who feel a compelling need to read all of Shakespeare's works. Even those may want to avoid it, because it isn't wholly the work of the bard.

I don't feel "Pericles" represents Shakespeare's best efforts. It lacks the profound aspects and suspense of his better (4-5 star) works. In my opinion, some characters like Cleon are handled less than fairly. The play seems to delight in his death, when he had nothing to do with the wickedness of his wife. Nor did he approve of it. Nevertheless, it is easy to see why this play has always been very popular. Pericles is a well developed character. First we see him as a youth jousting for the love of his life. Although not much time passes, we are somehow given the impression that he has aged. He becomes a father and he 'believes' he has become a widower. It is interesting how he changes from a typical teenage lovestruck youth to an adult concerned over his 'motherless' daughter. When he thinks his daughter is dead, he is reduced to an old man's solitary state. When he is reunited with his wife and daughter, it is almost as if he is young again. Marina is memorable as Pericles' virtuous daughter. Helicanus is striking as Pericles' loyal servant who is no flatterer. Cleon is sympathetic as the decent man who is destroyed by his wife Dionyza's wickedness. So, we have some interesting characters, a man's growth, good images, comical touches, a sudden dilemna, and a happy ending. In my opinion, this was Shakespeare's attempt at a fairy tale. If you read this (knowing not to expect his best efforts) you may be pleasantly surprised.

This least known of Shakespeare's romances was enormously popular during his day judging by handbills and other evidence--though not, of course, as much as his all time blockbuster; Romeo and Juliet.--And Pericles continued going strong for quite a while.

Immediately after the Restoration, when the Puritans (bless their hearts) fell from power and the theaters opened for business again, guess which play was the first the court wanted to see?

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So what happenned?

Oscar Wilde once said there were two ways of disliking poetry. One was to simply dislike it and the other was to like Pope.

Preicles did not do well with the 18th century pundits because it deviates from the 'Aristotalean unities'. Unlike The Tempest, for example, which takes place in one locale over a couple of days, Pericles takes place over 10 to 15 years all over the ancient Mediterranean. It has the form of an epic. What can I say? Homer would have dug it.

It's the story of a prince who screws up. Partly from his fault, mostly not. It's got tyrants, incest, treason, murder, knights, wizards, teenagers, kings, pirates, brothels, young love, a great hero and The Goddess Diana.

Oh yeah, the poetry's not too shabby either.

The theme is what to do when everything goes horribly wrong. How to weather sorrow and get through your life. How to be honorable and not give in to despair.

Someone once remarked that the romances are tragedies turned upside down e.g; The Winter's Tale begins as Othello and then has a happy ending. At least if it's performed by a good cast who commits to the miracle of the statue coming back to life.

If they 'apologize' for an outlandish miracle, it's doomed. Likewise, Pericles also has a happy ending if it's produced by a company who loves the play rather than by a group who views it as a rare curiosity in the Shakespeare canon.

It might interest some readers to know that the nonsense about Shakespeare only writing part of it is, God help us, a compromise position from a few scholars who don't want to get into an argument with unorthodox loons about who really wrote Shakespeare's plays.

Pericles was left out of the first folio. For that matter so were 100 lines of King Lear and there's 300 lines that appear in the folio version of Lear that aren't in the quarto (having fun yet?) which, of course, is positive proof that de Vere or Queen Elizabeth or Bacon or Lope de Vega was really the true writer and never mind that while William Shakespeare lived and for 200 years later no one thought to question his authorship, what did those Elizabethans know , anyway?

Besides he never went to college, so there.

(sigh)

As James Barrie, the author of Peter Pan once remarked: I do not know if Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare' plays, but if he didn't he missed the opportunity of a lifetime.

In the hands of the right director, Pericles, Prince of Tyre is pure gold.

There are a zillion Egypt travel guides, and I've at least flipped through most of them. The Let's Go is the best, most up-to-date, and most practical. I have also found the sections on Jordan and Syria, though fairly small, to be more useful than whole other guides devoted to those countries. The Lebanon section is rife with errors, probably because it is new. I expect it will get better over time.

My biggest complaint about this series is the sometimes inappropriate use of humor. Humor is welcome, of course, but the 1992 edition led a (admittedly somewhat gullible) friend of mine to the remote fishing village of Abu Qir in search of the International House of Pancakes Let's Go said was there. Many people seem to memorize the Cairo drivers' "honking dictionary" that appeared in the 1998 edition, when this was either a joke or the product of a serious lack of understanding on the part of the authors.

All in all, though, a very good book and the one to buy if you're coming to the region.

The Let's Go books tend to improve every year, so it's not surprising that some things in this version are out of date. If you are planning a trip to the Middle East, buy a more up-to-date version of the book!

That said, I used this book in 1998 to travel around Egypt, Israel, and Jordan, and I found it useful, insightful, and (yes) funny too. The Let's Go authors share more interesting observations, pay closer attention to detail, and express themselves more clearly than the authors of most other travel guides I've used (and I have used many).

The maps in the book were definitely a weak point. I suggest taking along a supplemental map or two, especially if visiting the big cities.

The Let's Go books tend to improve every year, so it's not surprising that some things in this version are out of date. If you are planning a trip to the Middle East, buy a more up-to-date version of the book!

That said, I used this book in 1998 to travel around Egypt, Israel, and Jordan, and I found it useful, insightful, and (yes) funny too. The Let's Go authors share more interesting observations, pay closer attention to detail, and express themselves more clearly than the authors of most other travel guides I've used (and I have used many).

The maps in the book were definitely a weak point. I suggest taking along a supplemental map or two, especially if visiting the big cities.