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Philip Mansel

Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean Hardcover – May 24, 2011

by Philip Mansel (Author)

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Levant is a book of cities. It describes three former centers of great wealth, pleasure, and freedom—Smyrna, Alexandria, and Beirut—cities of the Levant region along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. In these key ports at the crossroads of East and West, against all expectations, cosmopolitanism and nationalism flourished simultaneously. People freely switched identities and languages, released from the prisons of religion and nationality. Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived and worshipped as neighbors.

Distinguished historian Philip Mansel is the first to recount the colorful, contradictory histories of Smyrna, Alexandria, and Beirut in the modern age. He begins in the early days of the French alliance with the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century and continues through the cities' mid-twentieth-century fates: Smyrna burned; Alexandria Egyptianized; Beirut lacerated by civil war.

Mansel looks back to discern what these remarkable Levantine cities were like, how they differed from other cities, why they shone forth as cultural beacons. He also embarks on a quest: to discover whether, as often claimed, these cities were truly cosmopolitan, possessing the elixir of coexistence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews for which the world yearns. Or, below the glittering surface, were they volcanoes waiting to erupt, as the catastrophes of the twentieth century suggest? In the pages of the past, Mansel finds important messages for the fractured world of today.

Print length

470 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Yale University Press
Publication date

May 24, 2011
Dimensions

6.13 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

9780300172645
ISBN-13

978-0300172645
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"I could scarcely put down this magnificent book, with its galloping narrative, its worldly analysis, sparkling anecdotes and its unforgettable cast of the decadent, the cosmopolitan, and the cruel."—Simon Sebag Montefiore, Financial Times (Simon Sebag Montefiore Financial Times)

"[A] highly enjoyable and intricately-worked account of three great Mediterranean ports."—The Economist (The Economist)

"This is a rich piece of historical storytelling that will satisfy scholars, travelers, readers of travel literature, and everyone in between, Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in this complicated region of the world."—Veronica Arellano, Library Journal (Veronica Arellano Library Journal)

“Levant is an eminently readable and authoritative work that speaks directly to present-day anxieties, both about the nature of today’s western multicultural cities, and about current tensions between nations and religions.”-- Roderick Beaton, King's College London (Roderick Beaton)

"An extraordinary achievement. Passionate but impartial, animated, sensual and scholarly. "--Barnaby Rogerson, auhor of The Last Crusaders

(Barnaby Rogerson)

“This book is a labour of love and finely tuned scholarship, ornamented with such telling social detail and intimate knowledge of the urban and social landscapes that it brings 300 years of history to entertaining life…Philip Mansel slowly makes the reader aware that the grand theme of his history is a slow unfolding tragedy which remains absolutely relevant to today’s multicultural societies, engaged as they are in the delicate balancing act between political unity and cosmopolitan diversity…not only an entertainment and a historical education but also something of a political warning…”—Barnaby Rogerson, Times Literary Supplement (Barnaby Rogerson Times Literary Supplement)

“Philip Mansel's Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe in the Mediterranean is a remarkable, highly unusual and very readable social history of the ports of Smyrna, Beirut and Alexandria during the final decades of the Ottoman Empire.”—Lev Myshkin, Global Dispatches (Lev Myshkin Global Dispatches)

"The strengths of the book are colossal. Philip Mansel’s knowledge of the history and culture of these places is encyclopedic; he has walked their streets, met the scions of their famous families and penetrated their private archives. His eye for detail is sharp; telling anecdotes are culled from memoirs of all kinds, and the sights and smells of each city are vividly conjured up."—Noel Malcolm, Telegraph (Noel Malcolm Telegraph)

About the Author

Philip Mansel is a historian of France and the Ottoman Empire. His publications include histories of Constantinople and nineteenth-century Paris, as well as biographies of Louis XVIII and the Prince de Ligne. While writing Levant, he lived in Beirut and Istanbul.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0300172648
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press (May 24, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 470 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780300172645
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300172645
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 0.01 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #347,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #95 in Egyptian History (Books)
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4.4 80 ratings

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Philip Mansel

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Philip Mansel is a historian of France and the Middle East; he has lived in Paris, Beirut and Istanbul, and now lives in London. His books on French history include Louis XVIII (1981); The Court of France 1789-1830 (1989); Paris between Empires (2001), a history of Paris as a European capital under the restoration and the July Monarchy; The Eagle in Splendour: Inside the Court of Napoleon (reprint 2015); and most recently King of World: The Life of Louis XIV (2019). On the Middle East he has written Constantinople: City of the World’s Desire (1995) ; Levant (2010) on Smyrna, Alexandria and Beirut; and Aleppo: the Rise and Fall of Syria’s Great Merchant City (2016). They emphasise the importance of France and French culture for those cities. His books have been translated into several languages including French, Italian, German, Greek, Turkish and Arabic. He has written for many newspapers and magazines, including The International Herald Tribune, The Spectator; History Today; the TLS; and Cornucopia.

In 1995 he was a co-founder of the Society for Court Studies (www.courtstudies.org), designed to promote research on courts and dynasties, and in 2010 of the Levantine Heritage Foundation, dedicated to the study of the history and cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean (www.levantineheritage.com). In 2012 he received the London Library Life in Literature award and in 2019 the Franco-British Book Prize. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of Literature, and President of the Conseil scientifique of the Centre de Recherche du Chateau de Versailles.(CRCV).

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Bayard B.

Excellent! Nationalism and religious intolerance may have ruined the Levant but there are successor places in the world.

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2017

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Excellent! Describes the bygone era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries when cities such as Smyrna, Alexandria, Salonica, and Beirut were populated by an international privileged elite and dominated the eastern Mediteranean socially and financially. It couldn't last -- nationalism and religious centered governments drove out most of the foreign elite and ruined the international trade and businesses on which the cities depended for their wealth. Beirut was the worst example of what happened, starting in the 1950s with sectarian internecine violence and culminating in the full scale multi-ethnic and intra-political civil wars of the 1990s.

The various governments in Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon and Syria may have gained political control of a sort but it didn't do anything for the lost economic dynamism. Those cities today are nowhere near the economic leaders of the eastern Mediteranean that they were a hundred years ago.

The author concludes in the last chapter "New Levants for Old" that the richest cities in the world today -- London, Paris, New York, Dubai, Mumbai, and Singapore -- are the modern heirs of the mixed populations of those former cities' economic and financial power or influence.

3 people found this helpful

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Rogerio de Oliveira Souza

A link between History and Families

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2016

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Philip Mansel's Levant take us in a travel time throughout Smyrna, Alexandria, Beirut and many others cities of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. The most important differential of the book is that the author makes a link between the "big picture" and the story of many families that shaped the region since the Seventeenth Century. You will read about the beginning of the industry in the region through many Greek and Jew's families and the effects, bad and good, that the historical events caused to them. The book is easy to ready even through its more than 300 pages. The lecture is like a voyage in a cruiser in the Nile or in the Mediterranean Sea. You can almost see the evolution of the region, the wars that those cities had to face, the evacuation of population, the starving children, the construction of avenues and new buildings in Smyrna (The Cordon) and the destruction of many private houses. Highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Lots of Details. No context.

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2021

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The author seems to assume that the reader has a working knowledge of geopolitical events (how and why things happened) in the larger sense during the whole period covered by the book.

By example, these cities were a part of the Ottoman Empire (OE) for most of the covered historical period. Yet there is very little discussion of how the OE was formed, it's significance, or how it operated). There's little, if any, context for authors detail.

This lack of context continues through WWI, WWII and the formation of the Jewish State.

Genocide, massacres and terror reign. And after reading the entire book, I cannot understand at all the "how" or "why" it all happened.

Consequently, after reading the entire book, I really have learned very little. Very disappointing.

I'm also disappointed in some of the reviews of this book. Some of them appear to be intentionally misleading. This is not an easy read!

2 people found this helpful

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D. Squires

Great read on the Levant

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2011

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If you are interested in the history of the Levant since about the 1700s, told through the history and more broadly story of its 3 great cities, Alexandria, Beirut, and Symrna, then this is the book for you. Packed with facts and anecdotes, the author presents a sweeping narrative. Any easy and enjoyable read by an incredibly knowledgeable author, the book unites all into a broad and thoughtful perspective. I've lived in the area and read a fair amount, but I learned much that I didn't even know I didn't know and filled in gaps of knowledge and analysis.

11 people found this helpful

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Leslie P. Kelley

The Way History Should Be Written.

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2017

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This book was recommended by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in Antifragile, but it also really fits well with Jacques Barzun's Dawn To Decadence: Looking at specific places at specific times and demonstrating some of Barzun's "themes" (e.g., Secularism). I am sure if it had been written prior to Barzun's masterpiece, he would have recommended it. I can really give no higher compliment.

One person found this helpful

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Juno

Very pleasant and informative reading

Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2015

Verified Purchase

Enjoyed reading it. Although, I found it a bit long.

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2015

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I thought this was a splendid book--great explanation of the world of the E. Med. that I knew slightly in Beirut in the 1970s. I have recommended it to lots of others.

2 people found this helpful

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Robert Naggar

An excellent book for all those interested in the history of ...

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2014

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An excellent book for all those interested in the history of some exceptionally affluent, cosmopolitan, intellectually rich mediterranean cities where civilization and uniqueness have been destroyed by blind nationalism and religious fanaticism.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

damienbixlan

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on July 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

Loved it

Filip

Levant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2023

Verified Purchase

It arrived on time. The book was in pristine condition.

GregB

A welcome addition...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2011

Verified Purchase

...to the existing small stock of books about the great Mediterranean port cities, a subject which I find fascinating (of relatively recent works, I have Mansel's own history of Constantinople from 1453 to 1924, Mark Mazower's 'Salonica: City Of Ghosts', Peter Ackroyd's idiosyncratic history of Venice, Jan Morris on Trieste and Robert Hughes on Barcelona.) Mansel has killed three birds with one stone by writing an interweaving modern history of Smyrna, Beirut and Alexandria and the result is splendid. The combination of straight factual history with anecdotes about the cities and their colourful characters, all against the backdrop of the declining Ottoman Empire, works very well and one's interest is sustained as Mansel switches from one to another as his narrative progresses. Moreover, the stories of Beirut and, above all, Alexandria, have topical interest given the political unrest in Lebanon and the recent uprising in Egypt. On the latter, the story of Mehmet Ali's dynasty, culminating in the military takeover of 1952 with its own resulting 'dynasty' lasting until only recently provides an excellent backstory to the current situation.

I cannot agree with the previous reviewer as this is by no means a specialist or excessively scholarly work (though it's clearly very well-researched and Mr. Mansel is evidently a scholar) and it can be read without any previous knowledge of the subject (one might want to check on the odd detail but that's easy enough these days with the aid of the Internet), though it certainly helps to have a prior interest in these once-magic Levantine cities. Actually, my only 'criticism' is a very mild one: the cover of the book bears a beautiful picture, but it is of none of the three cities in the book. It's Constantinople.

The mingling of different races and religious groups and their periodic descent into communal violence might give pause for thought on the topical question of multiculturalism in our societies, but that tangential aspect is not essential for an appreciation of the book as straightforward history. (My own view, for what it's worth, however, is that it bears out the view that multiculturalism doesn't work and the cracks never take long to show.)

Now, we only need a decent history of the historic Italian port of Genoa, as there doesn't seem to be one - at least a modern one - as far as I can see. Perhaps Mr. Mansel might consider the task now...

23 people found this helpful

Vincenzo Valentini

Beautiful rendition of a fascinating tale.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2012

Verified Purchase

Being an avid traveller and a lover of historical books, this opus magna detailing in a compelling and engrossing way the history of three capital cities of the Mediterranean, was ideally suited for me, and definitely I was delighted by it.
Izmir, Alexandria and Beirut are important names in our minds of Mediterranean peoples and for some uncanny reasons all these three cities seem to be possessed by a similar genius loci, capable of instantly telling something even to the casual traveller. Their histories are masterfully narrated by the author, that often does not refrain from political comments and references to the contemporary age, that I found always to the point. A particular mention must be made of the author's style that, while quite dense, is always readable and logically organised. This is one of the rarest books that I found 100% in agreement with, as the events that shaped up often dramatically the lives of these three cities are always presented in a very convincing way, that leaves very little to different interpretations. I especially liked the easiness with which Mansel managed to describe a confused little war like the Balkans Wars of 1912-13. No mean feat at the light of the importance of this conflict as the catalyst of the Great War. A gorgeous book that must be recommended to everybody with an interest in the history of human endeav

14 people found this helpful

Studente

Definitely worth it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is an excellent read and journey. Maybe I was already won over from the start, since I’m a lover of everything Mediterranean, but the sheer depth and scope of detail covered by the author is only matched by the fact he successfully manages to help you paint your own panorama to plot it all on in your head. If you like the region and you like history, this book is worth it.

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