Mackey really packs a lot into such a short (266-page) book. It was published in 2010, btw. It's history, popular history, but she writes like a journalist, imho. She's obviously been immersed in the region for a very long time. For readers looking for a summary of the 15-year civil war, here it is, complete with historical context going back to Phoenecia, the Ottoman Empire, betrayal of the Arabs by the French and British, the nonsensical geographical boundaries, impact of Palestinian influx and on and on.

The chapter on the history Palestine was especially sharp--and who hasn't already read a lot about the plight of the Palestinians?

Reading through the whole civil war is a haul all right. But once you get a grasp of all the different actors--Maronites, other Christians, Shiites, Sunnis, Druze, leftists, PLO, Hezbollah, Israelis ...well, you know they're going to be shifting alliances, so you can skip to 1989 and find ... the most influential figures in Lebanon--whether rich business families or leaders of religious factions--are still unwilling to give up the powers necessry to create the kind of institutions that constitute a modern state.

Despite the veneer of modernity prior to 1975 (and since the the end of the war) this is still a tiny makeshift state run in a tribal or feudal fashion. Pretty depressing. And it would be hard enough for a state that didn't have Iran (funding Hezbollah), Palestine and Israel as neighbors.

Where I think she fails is the final chapter, reflecting the book's title, in which she argues that Lebanon is a microcosm of the issues and conflicts elsewhere in the Arab world. OK, yes, in this tiny place (7/10 the size of Connecticut!), there's nearly every community and political strain (what about Wahhabis?) found in the Arab states, but in its heyday, it was run by business families, most of them probably Christian at that. It doesn't have the problems or advantages (see Jordan) of a royal family. It doesn't have oil. Does anywhere else have such different communities packed into such a small area, so close to the sea?

Then there's the afterword, in which she brings in the extremist post 9/11 reactions in the US and the growing hostility of Islam in Europe. She probably has a lot to say about such matters, but she doesn't have enough space to say it. It feels tacked on. Skip it. ( )

Sandra Mackey does an admirable job telling the history of Lebanon. The story focuses on the role that Lebanon has played in the confusing world of Middle East politics. This role is usually being the pawn of major world powers as well as regional ones. ( )