Rating: 
Summary: Read something honest instead
Review: This book is by a journalist who is part of the problem.
Suppose I were to write a book about the Mafia. And suppose I showed that the Mafia broke the law sometimes, and even went so far as to say that the Mafia was more interested in its cause than in being law-abiding! And suppose that, in an effort to be fair, I also explained that the real problem happened to be those who had the temerity to go after the Mafia and try to bring those in the Mafia to justice. Well, if I did that, I would expect some criticism. And Fisk got some when he explained that the PLO was more interested in its cause than in Lebanon. And he got more when he simply condemned Israeli responses to PLO attacks out of hand. As well as when he dismissed such criticism as Israeli propaganda.
Fisk mentions in his book that journalists in Lebanon started to get some criticism for their unbalanced and inaccurate reporting. As he admits, "Slowly, but with ever-increasing frequency, the Israelis suggested that we were anti-semitic. Like Hitler and Arafat." Well, I don't know if some of the critics he mentions, such as Conor Cruise O'Brien and Martin Peretz, actually quite said that. But O'Brien and Peretz did write about Lebanon and the reporting from there, and O'Brien and Peretz were basically right, while Fisk is basically wrong. Of course, Fisk says it is the other way around.
Part of Fisk's problem is political. That is, he feels it is a counterproductive crime to attack terrorists who have been murdering one's people and who promise to do more of the same. He does realize that some people will attack terrorists anyway. But I think he fails to realize that we ought to expect terrorists to be attacked and that it is a good idea to try to stop terrorism. Still, that is just a political problem. The bigger problem is his misrepresentation of the victims of terror, and his misleading reporting.
Is this book good enough to be worth a star? Not really. But I couldn't find a way to give it zero stars. Just avoid it.
Rating: 
Summary: Pity which nation?
Review: This book is well written and provides a unique prospective, however it is a one-sided account. I kept getting the feeling when I was reading the book that it is a story about the Palestinians and Israelis, and not the Lebanese. He starts off the book by examining the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After the Israeli invasion he gives no insight into the Christian/Conservative perspective (which he never really examined in the beginning of the book), and for a man who takes such care in portraying characters like Arafat and Shia radicals in a fair and unbiased light, he simply criticizes and make fun of General Aoun. The only subject he talks about since the early 90's is Israel's incursions into Lebanon. He ignores all other issues. To get a more unbiased view I would recommend "Faces of Lebanon: Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions". I think it is a bit ironic that he entitles the book "Pity the Nation"- which nation does he show pity for: Lebanon or Palestine?
Rating: 
Summary: Good read, informative, some hypocrisy
Review: This is a wonderful book and one of its kind. No other book deals with the entire Lebanese Civil war from 1975-1989. Other books like 'From Beirut to Jerusalum' and 'Israels Lebanon War' deal with segments of the conflict. This is an important work and all the more so because of Mr. Fisks first hand accounts. Unfortunatly like all the other books on the mideast this book does contain bias and hypocrisy. Once again Mr. Fisk whines about the hardship of the palistinians. We must understand that Mr. Fisk, like all Jurnalists covering the civil war, was taken in by the Palistinian propoganda machine. Mr. FIsk does not level the same criticism at the Syrians that he does of the Israels when both of these countries where involved in similar incidents in the Lebanon. Mr. Fisk like so many biased authors also overlooks the virtual ethnic cleansing of the christians of Lebanon. But for these flaws this book is far less biased and sugarcoats the Palistinians far less then many similar works. I truly recommend this read to anyone who can stumach the 700 pages.
Rating:
Summary: Good read, informative, some hypocrisy
Review: This is a wonderful book and one of its kind. No other book deals with the entire Lebanese Civil war from 1975-1989. Other books like 'From Beirut to Jerusalum' and 'Israels Lebanon War' deal with segments of the conflict. This is an important work and all the more so because of Mr. Fisks first hand accounts. Unfortunatly like all the other books on the mideast this book does contain bias and hypocrisy. Once again Mr. Fisk whines about the hardship of the palistinians. We must understand that Mr. Fisk, like all Jurnalists covering the civil war, was taken in by the Palistinian propoganda machine. Mr. FIsk does not level the same criticism at the Syrians that he does of the Israels when both of these countries where involved in similar incidents in the Lebanon. Mr. Fisk like so many biased authors also overlooks the virtual ethnic cleansing of the christians of Lebanon. But for these flaws this book is far less biased and sugarcoats the Palistinians far less then many similar works. I truly recommend this read to anyone who can stumach the 700 pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Book I Ever Read!
Review: This is both the best and the longest book I have ever read. Being a 16 year old, I am not a huge fan of books as you can imagine. But I couldnt put this down, and got through this monster of a book in a week. If you like this guy, I recommend you check out some of his articles in the Independent. Excellent writer and great journoulist. Probably the decicive journoulistc book about the lebenon-palestine-isreal situation. Dont hestitate to order this book, you wont regret it!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent piece of journalism and history
Review: This is not only a very high quality writing about the Lebanese War and the intertwined Middle East politics, but also a good reference to study the current problems in the Middle East. Fisk is very successful in giving the stories from the opposite sides of the war. He documents his effort to confirm the validity the "facts" told on different sides. He also draws a clean, but inevitably horrifying, picture of the war as seen through the eyes of the innocent civilians. This book is also a good example of journalism empowered by analytic research. You should enjoy Fisk's work with its literary quality and amazing content.
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