Customer Reviews

The Levant: A Fractured Mosaic (Princeton Series on the Middle East)

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The earliest war that we know of was in the Levant. And it doesn't seem like much has changed since. This area, from Turkey in the north, around the coast of the Med to the Egyption border is home (or a major center) of seemingly every religion in the world. And they all seem to hate each other.

The government of the Lavant has usually been been subject to larger empires from the Egyptians to the Romans to the British. When not subjegated, it has been fractured into a mix of countries as it is today.

Mr. Harris has done a splendid job of writing this history, description, and especially his concluding chapter, 'What's Next in the Lavant.' In this chapter he gives his impressions of the Israeli pullback from the settlements in Gaza, of the presence of the U.S. Military in Iraq, the high growth rate among the Arabs and more.

"One of the best academic books of the year 2004"--Choice Magazine

"Packed with solid information about the complex reality of the Levant). . . in its historical, geographical, and political aspects druing the past two millennia. . . . The survey is remarkably balanced in its depiction of ideologies and rivalries and is replete with useful maps and bibliography. . . . Highly recommended." -Choice

At the outset of the 21st century, the Levant is dominated by non-Sunnis, including Alawis in Syria and Jews in Palestine. The geopolitics of the region have been shaped by national, ethnic, and sectarian frictions in a setting characterized by limited space, rising population pressure, resource shortages, and international strategic interest. In the north, the Arabs face the Turks; in the center, Lebanon and Syria have yet to settle their differences; in the south, the confrontation between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs lurches toward some sort of denouement. The Levant: A Fractured Mosaic attempts an overall assessment of the contemporary affairs of the Levant, in the context of the history of the region since Roman times.

William Harris, University of Otago, New Zealand, is the author of Faces of Lebanon and other books.

The Levant consists of the Middle Eastern areas of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Gaza, & the West Bank. It is one of the most important areas in the world per square foot/meter, so it's important to try to achieve a real understanding of it, rather than just adopt slogans & this book will help.

The Levant seems more like a jigsaw puzzle than a mosaic, but with this book [plus consulting Wikipedia etc] we can begin to pick up the pieces & put them together. It begins with the Roman period & continues until the "present". Depending on which edition of the book you have, this could be 2002/3 [before the US invasion of Iraq] or 2005.

A drawback to the book is that there is no overall index, just an index of names. There also are useful lists of political movements, dynasties,, tribes, religious & ethnic groups.

I recommend skipping over chapter 1 at first, reading it later as a summary.