Inventing Lebanon: Nationalism and the State Under the Mandate

by Kais Firro

Inventing Lebanon examines the history behind an a new polity of €˜Greater Lebanon€™. It shows how, under the powerful influence of the French Mandate, various groups of the local elite attempted to create what amounted to a new Lebanese nationalism, carving the state into Maronite Christian, Sunni and Shiite power bases. The results only accentuated the divisions already inherent in this multi-ethnic and multi-faith society, and were to pave the way for the instability and wars that have plagued the country ever since.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Middle East, Politics

320 pages, Hardcover

First published December 6, 2002