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A Historian in Gaza
‘The Gaza I knew, and whose length and breadth I’ve travelled, has ceased to exist.’
Jean-Pierre Filiu, acclaimed historian of Gaza, is intimately familiar with the land’s people and places; he speaks the local dialect. But nothing prepared him for what he encountered there in December 2024. This is his unforgettable, unbearably intimate account of one month in a place shattered by Israel’s all-out war.
When the historian returned to Gaza, he arrived under circumstances unimaginably different from his many past visits since 1980: only a limited number of convoys were allowed into the Strip, and he was one of the few humanitarians able to enter, this time by night. He remained inside for 33 days, and emerged determined to bear witness to the devastation—to the Gazans fighting simply to live, every single day.
Filiu’s haunting portrait of a land betrayed is a grim work of war reportage, documented with the acuity of a historian; and a lyrical narrative of human suffering, and human dignity.
Jean-Pierre Filiu, acclaimed historian of Gaza, is intimately familiar with the land’s people and places; he speaks the local dialect. But nothing prepared him for what he encountered there in December 2024. This is his unforgettable, unbearably intimate account of one month in a place shattered by Israel’s all-out war.
When the historian returned to Gaza, he arrived under circumstances unimaginably different from his many past visits since 1980: only a limited number of convoys were allowed into the Strip, and he was one of the few humanitarians able to enter, this time by night. He remained inside for 33 days, and emerged determined to bear witness to the devastation—to the Gazans fighting simply to live, every single day.
Filiu’s haunting portrait of a land betrayed is a grim work of war reportage, documented with the acuity of a historian; and a lyrical narrative of human suffering, and human dignity.
- GenresHistory
182 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 20, 2025
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About the author
Jean-Pierre Filiu
45 books43 followersJean-Pierre Filiu (1961) is a French professor of Middle East studies at Sciences Po, Paris School of International Affairs, an Orientalist and an Arabist.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 28, 2025
I found the book underwhelming, because it was merely a general overview of the Gaza situation which I felt I could have researched through Wikipedia.
It is titled ‘a historian in Gaza’, yet the author, who is the historian in question, provides minuscule anecdotes about his time in Gaza, shielding the reader from a deeper understanding of what life was like, at least from his perspective.
I felt as if this should have been a been a blog post, not a book.
It is titled ‘a historian in Gaza’, yet the author, who is the historian in question, provides minuscule anecdotes about his time in Gaza, shielding the reader from a deeper understanding of what life was like, at least from his perspective.
I felt as if this should have been a been a blog post, not a book.
January 7, 2026
Quite interesting and very brief
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews