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READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Get the featured set of Essential Reading, our top picks of what to read, and get free shipping on anything else you order.

Essential Reading

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Lonely Planet Syria & Lebanon

Lonely Planet Syria & Lebanon

by Siona Jenkins | Ann Jousiffe

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 436 PAGES

This practical guide in the popular series includes a terrific overview of history, culture and attractions, as well as helpful travel information. (LBN03, $22.99)

Ancient Lebanon, Monuments Past and Present

Ancient Lebanon, Monuments Past and Present

by M. J. Strazzulla

  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 72 PAGES

Ingenious overlay illustrations reveal 16 ancient monuments from the days of the Phoenicians, the Romans and the Christian crusaders. The sites are shown first as they look today and then, via an overlaid acetate illustration, as they looked in their heydays. (LBN05, $29.95)

A House of Many Mansions, The History of Lebanon Reconsidered

A House of Many Mansions, The History of Lebanon Reconsidered

by Kamal Salibi

  • HISTORY
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 247 PAGES

A lucid history of Lebanon, balancing competing versions of the history of Lebanon's Christian and Muslim traditions. In the process, the Lebanese professor of history debunks some common myths and demonstrates how the persistent views of each of Lebanon's groups contribute to the current conflict. (LBN01, $26.95)

From the Holy Mountain, A Journey Among the Christians of the Middle East

From the Holy Mountain, A Journey Among the Christians of the Middle East

by William Dalrymple

  • RELIGION
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 496 PAGES

In this beautifully written hymn to Eastern Christianity, Dalrymple follows the journeys of ancient monks and scholars through Istanbul, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt. (MDE49, $20.00)

Lebanon Map

Lebanon Map

by ITMB

  • 2011
  • MAP

A map of Lebanon at a scale of 1:220,000 with a detailed city map of Beirut on the reverse. (MDE66, $12.95)

 
Arabesque, A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon

Arabesque, A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon


by Claudia Roden

  • FOOD
  • 2006
  • HARD COVER
  • 352 PAGES

With 100 color photos of food, people and places, this enchanting cookbook by a leading authority is filled with not just subtle, simple recipes but also stories, culture and history. (MED99, $37.50)

34 Days, Israel, Hezbollah, and the War in Lebanon


by Amos Harel

  • HISTORY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

A detailed, clear-eyed narrative of the 2006 war in Lebanon, from the border abduction of two Israeli soldiers to the hasty Israeli decision for an aggressive response and the diplomatic battles in Paris, Washington and New York that ended the conflict. (LBN10, $16.95)

A History of Modern Lebanon


by Fawwaz Traboulsi

  • HISTORY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 306 PAGES

A professor of history in Beirut, Traboulsi covers political, social and economic developments from Lebanon's addition to Ottoman emire in 1516 through the 1989 Ta'if Accords. (LBN14, $35.00)

A History of the Arab Peoples

A History of the Arab Peoples


by Albert Hourani

  • HISTORY
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 624 PAGES

Called a landmark, masterpiece and essential to understanding the Middle East, Hourani's acclaimed chronicle of the political, spiritual, religious and cultural traditions of the Arab peoples is brought up to date with an afterword by noted Islamic scholar Malise Ruthven. (MDE11, $18.95)

Beirut

Beirut


by Samir Kassir

  • HISTORY
  • 2010
  • HARD COVER
  • 650 PAGES

Widely regarded as the definitive history of Beirut, this eloquent panorama of a city at the crossroads of civilizations was the last work completed by Kassir before his assassination in 2005. (LBN11, $39.95)

Beyond the Facade, Political Reform in the Arab World


by Marina Ottaway

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 395 PAGES

These essays provide careful, detailed considerations of reform in ten countries (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen), highlighting the diversity of processes and problems. (ARB112, $22.95)

Dreams and Shadows, The Future of the Middle East

Dreams and Shadows, The Future of the Middle East


by Robin B. Wright

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 480 PAGES

Wright reports on the ideas, movements and obstacles to change in this incisive portrait. With chapters on the Palestinians, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Morocco. (MDE150, $17.00)

From Beirut to Jerusalem

From Beirut to Jerusalem


by Thomas Friedman

  • HISTORY
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 530 PAGES

An illuminating and heartfelt exploration of the complex Middle East. Pulitzer Prize winner Friedman provides a personal and a scholarly perspective on the roots of the conflict. (MDE03, $17.00)

Islam, The Straight Path

Islam, The Straight Path


by John L. Esposito

  • RELIGION
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

A well-written survey of the faith, practice and beliefs of Islam. It's a balanced tone intended for an undergraduate audience, yet it also functions as an excellent overview for the general reader. (MDE22, $47.95)

Killing Mr. Lebanon, The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East


by Nicholas Blanford

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 236 PAGES

Blanford's biography of Hariri, an entrepreneur who rose from nothing to become one of the most powerful men in Lebanese politics, is at once a real-life thriller and a portrait of Lebanon's modern political landscape. (LBN07, $16.95)

Lebanon, A House Divided

Lebanon, A House Divided


by Sandra MacKey

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 295 PAGES

First published in 1989, this portrait of a nation (with a new introduction by the author) illuminates the complex history of this tiny nation and the many factions that still tear it apart. (LBN04, $15.95)

Levant, Splendor and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean

Levant, Splendor and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean


by Philip Mansel

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 470 PAGES

Mansel plumbs the histories of three remarkable cities of great wealth, pleasure and freedom -- Smyrna, Alexandria and Beirut -- from their cosmopolitan glory days to their fate in the 20th-centuiry, revealing cultural precedents for the reality of the contemporary Middle East. (MED178, $35.00)

Mirror of the Arab World, Lebanon in Conflict

Mirror of the Arab World, Lebanon in Conflict


by Sandra MacKey

  • HISTORY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 309 PAGES

The tumultuous history of Lebanon illuminates not only the challenges that Arabs pose to themselves but also the fear and hostility that arise in response to perceived threats from the West. (LBN09, $17.95)

Nine Parts of Desire, The Hidden World of Islamic Women

Nine Parts of Desire, The Hidden World of Islamic Women


by Geraldine Brooks

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

A highly readable overview of the role of women in Islamic society, drawn from the author's many interviews with women throughout the Arab World. (ARB06, $15.00)

The Arab World, Forty Years of Change

The Arab World, Forty Years of Change


by Elizabeth Warnock and Rob Fernea | Thomas Hartwell

  • HISTORY
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

An award-winning look at life in the Middle East, updated in the 1990s. The authors revisit towns and cities, paying close attention to how changes such as the Gulf War and Arab-Israeli peace negotiations have impacted daily life. (ARB33, $17.95)

The Israel-Arab Reader

The Israel-Arab Reader


by Barry Rubin | Walter Laqueur

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 592 PAGES

Organized chronologically, this newly revised primer includes speeches, letters, articles, timelines and reports dealing with the continuing conflict in the Middle East. (ISR62, $18.00)

The Desert and the Sown

The Desert and the Sown


by Gertrude Bell | Rosemary O'Brien

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

A fierce explorer and archaeologist, lyrical writer and cunning politician, Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) spent much of her life traveling throughout present-day Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan & Israel. (MDE59, $12.95)

The Hills of Adonis

The Hills of Adonis


by Colin Thubron

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES

Thubron walked through the mountains of Lebanon, living with villagers along the way and visiting ruins Phoenician, Greek and Roman, crusader castles and Arab palaces. (MDE190, $28.95)

Waltz with Bashir, A Lebanon War Story


by David Polonsky | Ari Folman

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 117 PAGES

In this graphic novel adaptation of their 2008 animated documentary, Folman and Polonsky dramatize an Israeli soldier's attempts to dig up repressed memories of the massacre of Palestinians during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. (LBN06, $18.00)

Lebanon, Through Writers' Eyes


by J.T. Gorton

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 306 PAGES

Colin Thubron, William Dalyrmple and T.E. Lawrence all contribute to this judicious anthology. (LBN15, $33.95)

Season of Betrayal

Season of Betrayal


by Margaret Lowrie Robertson

  • LITERATURE
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

In this gripping novel set in war-torn 1983 Beirut, the wife of a bullying American journalist is caught up in events beyond her control. As her marriage disintegrates, a desperate affair creates a chain of events with fatal consequences. (LBN08, $14.00)

The Hakawati

The Hakawati


by Rabih Alameddine

  • LITERATURE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 528 PAGES

A modern Arabian Nights, Alameddine's astonishingly inventive, wonderfully exuberant novel takes readers from the shimmering dunes of ancient Egypt to the war-torn streets of 21-century Lebanon. (MDE133, $16.00)

White Masks

White Masks


by Maia Tabet | Elias Khoury

  • LITERATURE
  • 2010
  • HARD COVER
  • 303 PAGES

Khoury (Gate of the Sun) infuses the spirit of Beirut into this beautifully written story of a journalist seeking the truth about the murder of a civil servant during the Lebanese Civil War. (LBN12, $22.00)

Women of Sand and Myrrh

Women of Sand and Myrrh


by Hanan Al-Shaykh

  • LITERATURE
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 280 PAGES

Four women in an unnamed Arab country struggle for personal autonomy in this novel by a Lebanese author known for her beautiful and explicit prose. (MDE196, $15.00)

A Photographic Guide to Birds of Israel and the Middle East

A Photographic Guide to Birds of Israel and the Middle East


by Richard Porter | David M. Cottridge

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 144 PAGES

A convenient, pocket-sized guide to 252 species, covering the region from Turkey to Oman. (MDE54, $15.95)

Birds of the Middle East

Birds of the Middle East


by Richard Porter | Simon Aspinall

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

An outstanding guide to 700 species of the birds in the region from the Arabian peninsula to Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Cyprus. Second edition. (MDE17, $39.95)

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Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.