4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good source that should be encouraged, July 12, 2009
This review is from: Historical Dictionary of Lebanon (Hardcover)
So that the one star posted by the previous comment does not stick to this book, this is a different view. I think one should be fair to this brave attempt to construct a dictionary of Lebanese history, and ask for more (instead of damning darkness. light a candle). So what if the book contains a few errors? The author will gladly correct them and even improve on the content in the next edition. I am curious to know why the previous comment was so negative that its writer did not find one positive thing to say? First, almost 99% of the book's contents are accurate and to the point. Second, those who know professor AbuKhalil know about his style:Yes, the reader will not find praise in this book for Kamel Al-Assaad or for Suleiman Frangieh Sr in this book. Why? because the Lebanese deserve better than Mr. Al-Assaad as Parliamentary Speaker; suffice to say that al-Assaad's family was the incarnate of feudalism and corruption. Also, Frangieh the elder has blood on his hand (he supervised a massacre in Mizyara in 1957); and yes he is not educated; there are thousands of Maronite Christians who are better candidates for president than Frangieh the elder. To prove that this is not something personal against Suleiman Frangieh, one good example for president waas his brother Hamid Frangieh, who could have been the best president of Lebanon with his superior education and skills. Also, the figure about the population of Beirut is accurate as it reflects the number inside the municipal boundaries and excludes the suburbs (i.e., bounded by the City Sports Stadium on the south side and the Beirut River bridge on the north side). Finally, if the previous commentator is so keen about food items, he could check the many cooking books available at Amazon.com and do not expect cuisine items in a general book about Lebanese history.
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13 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A subjective and pugnacious reference work..., October 28, 2005
This review is from: Historical Dictionary of Lebanon (Hardcover)
As Hilal Khashan, of the American University of Beirut said: AbuKhalil explains his goal: to "provide essential information in order to grasp the realities of an exceedingly complex country and, in passing, to dispel some myths and illusions." Sounds like he will provide (p. ix).authoritative and even-handed definitions and avoid the divisions that continue to mar Lebanese life. Were it only so! Instead, his dictionary is riddled with assertions and accusations that insult the reader and Lebanon alike.
AbuKhalil freely derogates those whom he dislikes. Kamil al-As'ad, the most powerful southern Lebanese leader of the 1960s and 1970s, comes off as a politician "known for his indulgence in earthly pleasures and for his contempt of the very Shi'ite peasants he ostensibly represented." Sulayman Franjiyyah, president of Lebanon during 1970-76, is an "uneducated Maronite." AbuKhalil's entry on the Beirut Arab University announces that its "quality of teaching is considered low, and its graduates are not favored in employment."
Many entries do not even minimally contribute to the understanding of "an exceedingly complex country" but deal with such subjects as agriculture, Beirut International Airport, and a mental asylum. Amusing entries abound on such Lebanese dishes as kibbi, qawarma, and tabbulah. But then, why did he leave out shawarma, humus tahini, and baklava?
AbuKhalil displays negligence; the entry on Tawfiq Yusuf `Awwad (1911-?), a literary figure killed by a Syrian shell in 1989, finds a question mark by the writer's year of death. Shouldn't a dictionary writer look up something so elementary? Ilyas Sarkis, Lebanese president during the 1976-82 period, died vaguely in the "1980s," not in 1985. Errors of fact abound: the Muslim conquest of Lebanon in the seventh century, he rewrites as "Arab." He miss-labels the moderate, Association of Islamic Charitable Projects as "fundamentalist." He provides a population figure for Beirut in 1996 (the 407,403) that is mysteriously lower than the 1975 figure (475,000). He asserts that Ely Salem, a politician and academician, completed his graduate work at the University of Cincinnati, whereas it really was at the University of Indiana.
Abu Khalil's work does not dispel "myths and illusions" but, to the contrary, it represents a setback for scholarship. The last thing this country tormented by political divisions needs is a subjective and pugnacious reference work. But that's what it got.
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