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Warlords and Merchants
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Warlords And Merchants: The Lebanese Business And Political Establishment |
Unlike the other histories of Lebanon I've read, Warlords and Merchants takes the novel view that the prime actors in the history of Lebanon have been the Lebanese themselves, and particularly the influential Lebanese families. It's not a very well-written book - Dib goes off on tangents, and is neither evocative nor especially clear in his descriptions, but it is useful for (1) paying attention to everything else going on in Lebanon while the shooting was happening and (2) keeping track of the financial and economic history of the country.
The chapter on the Intrabank fiasco shows off the book's strengths, following the financial ins and outs of the collapse of the country's then-dominant bank while also keeping in mind the fundamental political obstacle faced by its founder, the Palestinian Youssef Beidas, as an outsider to the world of the traditional Lebanese families.
Recommended as a supplement to a more traditional Lebanese history book - Harris's Faces of Lebanon is good, as is Picard's Lebanon: A Shattered Country.
Posted by tomscud at March 22, 2006 04:24 AM
Filed Under: Levant
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