About this title: A Second Edition of Thomas Friedman's stunning book, the first edition of which won the American National Book Award. 'If you're only going to read one book on the Middle East, this is it.' Seymour Hersh In this lucid, incisive and memorable book, acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic, Friedman reaches deeper into the traumatic and complex ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780385413725ISBN:0385413726
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Light edge and corner wear. Name and statement inside. Tight, square book. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 608 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780385413725ISBN:0385413726
Description: Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Newspaper article from 1992 of an interview with Yasser Arafat taped to the inside front cover below book plate of previous owner's name. read more
"I checked this book out from the library and was not able to finish it as there were many others reserving the book after me. I am seriously considering buying the book and marking it up.
This book is fantastic for anyone wanting to better understand the conflicts of the middle-east. In just the short time I had the book I came to understand the difference between the Shiite and Sunni Muslim groups, one of the reasons the Palestinians hate the Jews, the political background of the area, the origins of the PLO, and the background of Arial Sharon and Yaser Arafat. I highly recommend this book for those curious about this subject."
"It was soo cool to read. Finally, a perspective on the Middle East Conflict that is as unbiased as an American Jew living in Beirut during the 1980's can possibly make it. As a reporter for the New York Times and as someone who regularly interviewed PLO leaders - it was in his best interest to be fair. Not only so that he can keep on getting interviews, but so that he won't end up shot to bits or blown up to pieces.
Oh, and reading the book made me wish I was a correspondent to the New York Times too."
"I am woefully ignorant of most of the conflicts in the Middle East, and even though the information in this book is pretty dated, it offers a useful window into the dynamics in Lebanon and Israel. Friedman writes with restraint and insight, and has some truly great pieces of analysis, like the chapter on Israel and Jewish identity. Now if he could only stop indulging his analogy fetish. Which one is it, Tom? Is the Middle East like an ice cream cone, or is it like The Great Gatsby? Make up your mind!"
"Friedman's book is easily one of the best primers on the history of the conflict in the mideast. I have mixed feelings about Friedman as a columnist, but this book is built on his time as a journalist in the region - first as a reporter in Beirut, then later as bureau chief in both Beirut and Jerusalem. His time in the region - over a decade - means From Beirut To Jerusalem has an impressive level of comprehensiveness.
While the depth of Friedman's reporting is one of the main strengths of the book, I also admire his decision not to remove his personal experience from the text. It would be all too easy, especially for a journalist, to adopt the authoritarian tone of objectivity - when, of course, no such thing really exists. As I mentioned in my review of Air Guitar, I've lost my taste for non-fiction that doesn't couch its terms in autobiography - whether it be criticism (in Hickey's case) or history. Friedman's account of the region was formed as much by the bombing of his Beirut apartment (with his good friend and translator losing several family members) as it was by interviews with Arafat - it was a wise decision to include accounts of both.
From Beirut to Jerusalem has one major flaw, though - a holdover from when it was published. The section on Lebanon does a wonderful job of providing both a history of the region and an analysis of the psychology of the participants. On switching to Israel, however, Friedman loses an important half of that balance. His analysis of the psychology and politics of the Israelis and Palestinians is just as sharp, but he skimps on recounting the actual chronology of events. The reason for this is obvious - when the book was original publish, it was only a few years after the first intifada started - and the American media was saturated with information on the uprising. No one likely to pick up Friedman's book would need a narrative of the events immediately before and after the intifada.
Unfortunately, when the intifada was declared, I was in elementary school - and I was not, I'll be the first to admit, an avid newspaper reader in 3rd grade. I found myself, throughout the second half of the book, waiting for Friedman to put the higher-level analysis on hold to give a quick narrative of the events - which never really quite came. That said, the rest of the book is so fantastic, it's hard for me to not recommend the book wholeheartedly."
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