Lebanon:

...The book is not without its faults...

...The specialist might find items to quibble with, but for those who seek an understanding of Lebanon behind the headlines and the two-minute news summaries this will be a very helpful book...

...In the process, she also points out how the regional powers have shamelessly exploited those grievances and phobias to their own advantage, thus making Lebanon the arena in which everyone's interests are advanced, save those of the Lebanese...

...The author is not satisfied with simple explanations...

...that led to the downfall of the Gemayel government...

...the departure of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from their homeland, many of whom will not return...

...Although the book went to press before the latest round of violence, which began in March of 1989, the author has done an admirable job of tracing the origins of the conflict that has kept Lebanon in a state of civil war since 1975...

...There is a tendency toward reductionism in discussions of "the Arabs" and "the West...

...Lebanon, or at least the Lebanon of its people's fondest hopes, seems to be dead...

...But recent events-the systematic destruction of both the Christian and the Muslim sectors of Beirut by Syria and its Lebanese militia allies and by forces loyal to General Michel Aoun...

...Many Lebanese, both Christian and Muslim, would affirm the latter, though the particular culprit may vary according to the political inclinations of the informant...

...If only the Lebanese could be left alone to solve their own problems...

...is a frequent refrain...

...Mackey correctly calls to task the ineptitude of the Reagan administration, which gave the "green light" to Israel's 1982 invasion...

...The inescapable truth is that the war germinated in the soil of the Lebanese own discord and then expanded as the Palestinian factor was added and finally peaked with the involvement of Syria, Israel, and others...

...Mackey is unwilling to let the Lebanese off the hook even though her critique of the role of regional and international powers in Lebanon is scathing...

...elpful book...

...The writing at times is a bit fervid, and sometimes it is not all that clear...

...concluded a disastrous agreement between Lebanon, Israel, and the U.S...

...This is a real virtue of the book...

...hostages into the deadly Lebanese game of violence and retaliation...

...The title's qualifying phrase, "Death of a Nation," seemed abrupt and heartless...

...Nor is U.S...

...the repeated failures of would-be mediators to bring about a settlement of the "Lebanese problem"-suggest that Ms.Mackey got it right...

...policy toward Lebanon, a policy characterized both by "innocence abroad" and a deep-rooted cynicism toward the Middle East in general and Arabs in particular, exempt from criticism...

...and U.S...

...rather, she painstakingly conducts the reader through the labyrinth of Lebanese politics, exposing the grievances and the phobias of the various groups who have participated in the Lebanese war...

...and in frustration shelled Lebanese villages, thus bringing the U.S...

...And there are occasional editing errors- "Hojatolislan," as a reference to the National Pact of 1948-thus giving the impression that this manuscript was hurried to press, perhaps in response to Lebanon's latest prominence in the news...

...The continuing debate among observers, a debate not unrelated to sympathies with regard to the Palestinian issue, is whether the primary responsibility for the tragedy of Lebanon lies with the Lebanese system, indeed with the very artificiality of the Lebanese state from its inception, or with the intervention of the outside actors, notably the Palestinians, the Israelis, and the Syrians...