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From Beirut to Jerusalem

Thomas L. Friedman

Picador

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ISBN10: 1250034418
ISBN13: 9781250034410

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656 Pages

$25.00

CA$33.00

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Winner of the National Book Award

One of the most thought-provoking books ever written about the Middle East, From Beirut to Jerusalem remains vital to our understanding of this complex and volatile region of the world. Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas L. Friedman drew upon his ten years of experience reporting from Lebanon and Israel to write this now-classic work of journalism. In a new afterword, he updates his journey with a fresh discussion of the Arab Awakenings and how they are transforming the area, and a new look at relations between Israelis and Palestinians, and Israelis and Israelis. Rich with anecdote, history, analysis, and autobiography, From Beirut to Jerusalem will continue to shape how we see the Middle East for many years to come.

Reviews

Praise for From Beirut to Jerusalem

"If you're only going to read one book on the Middle East, this is it."—Seymour Hersh

"A book that must be read by all who are concerned about the present and future of a part of our world to which Western civilization has always been, and will continue to be, vitally connected."—The Washington Post Book World

"A sparkling intellectual guidebook . . . An engrossing journey not to be missed."—The Wall Street Journal

"A complex, illuminating vision written with a novelist's eye for the telling detail and a reporter's knack for the revealing quote."—San Francisco Chronicle

"Perhaps no other book written for a popular audience has so successfully explained the unexplainable . . . This book is an annotated road map to the past, and a brilliant crystal ball for the future."—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"The most intelligent and comprehensive account one is likely to read."—The New York Times Book Review

"This riveting book, honest and clear, wipes away many of the shibboleths of the press . . . Friedman's analysis of the cause of the Palestinian uprising in Israel, the intifada, is brilliant and passionate, as is his rich use of anecdote . . . Friedman has written a very special book. Although one may disagree with his opinions and conclusions, one applauds his honesty and integrity. It is a must read."—Los Angeles Times

"Penetrating insights . . . illuminating concepts ... I warmly recommend From Beirut to Jerusalem."—The New York Times

"Remarkable . . . The book stands out from the pack of tomes about the Mideast published each year for a number of reasons: It has a compelling lucidity that more than does justice to a murky, elusive land. It is eminently readable, personal and scholarly, historical and as up to date as tomorrow morning's headlines. But maybe most importantly, From Beirut to Jerusalem is surprisingly balanced."—Baltimore Jewish Times

"A remarkable journey . . . He describes with force and clarity the fears and terrors that turn Arab against Arab and Arab against Jew."—Chicago Tribune

"From Beirut to Jerusalem is a controversially important book about the Middle East . . . Thomas Friedman, who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his New York Times dispatches from Beirut and Jerusalem in the 1980s, shows himself to be a dispassionate spokesman of the human mind whether his subjects are Arabs or Jews . . . Thomas Friedman has written a superior book."—Pittsburgh Press

"A hugely serious, sometimes jokey, always analytical record and occasionally audacious interpretation of events that Friedman lived through . . . It is not idle talk when David Shipler, former colleague and winner of a Pulitzer Prize for his own book, Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land, speaks of Friedman's 'soaring intellect.'"—Fame

"Thomas Friedman has written a tour de force. It is a spellbinding account of the coming of age of an intelligent and ambitious young man, a man of conscience and integrity, who attempts to struggle with his own humanity in a place where he is the eyewitness to horrific inhumanity."—MW Jewish News

"A masterly journalistic and impressionistic study. It should be read by anyone interested in the Middle East."—Dallas Morning News

"Although much is written about this region in the Western press, little of substance is ever said. Mr. Friedman fills the yawning gap between verbiage and understanding with grace, precision, and insight.''—The Economist

"A superb, unsettling and predictably controversial book . . . It proves a splendid trip, because Friedman knows his material cold and hot, writes and reports like Thomas of Arabia with a laptop computer, and pounds home strong opinions and insider advice. It unsettles, because Friedman's combination of bookish overview and in-the-rubble experience leads him to cutting insights about the mess in Lebanon, relations between American and Israeli Jews, and many other cliched Middle East issues."—Columbus Dispatch

"Perhaps no other book written for a popular audience has so successfully explained the unexplainable . . . This book is an annotated roadmap to the past, and a brilliant crystal ball for the future."—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"A book that is almoit impossible to put down. It is packed with anecdotes, color, personalities, humor, fairness, and the wisest analysis of the Lebanese and Israeli-Palestinian situations that I have come across . . . Overall, this is the best book I have ever found about the Middle East."—The Progressive

"[A] crowded, fascinating memoir . . . Friedman has mastered his subject." —Time magazine

"Gifted with brilliant reporting skills and exceptional writing ability, [Friedman] helps the reader understand the plight of both peoples. His empathy for their condition leads him, and his readers, not to despair, but to hope that a solution is possible that will ultimately allow Jews and Arabs to live alongside one another, if not with and for each other."—Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.)

"Thomas Friedman enters [the Mideast] as one reporter who doesn't need voice lessons. From Beirut to Jerusalem puts him at the head of the pack—a dynamic, opinionated liver-and-breather of the beat, shouting his views toward mosque and synagogue alike."—Philadelphia Inquirer

"From Beirut to Jerusalem is required reading for anyone trying to make sense of the Middle East morass and, considering the relentless human suffering in both Lebanon and Israel, even more important reading for those who have thrown up their hands in disgust."—7 Days

"From Beirut to Jerusalem is both a personal journey toward understanding these two countries and a superb, sparkling analysis of Middle Eastern politics."—Atlanta Journal/Atlanta Constitution

"Vastly descriptive, incredibly illuminating, very educational, and marvelously persuasive." —Library Journal

"[A] provocative, absorbing memoir cum political and social analysis."—Publishers Weekly

About the author

Thomas L. Friedman

Thomas L. Friedman is an internationally renowned author, reporter, and columnist—the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes and the author of several bestselling and award winning books, among them From Beirut to Jerusalem, The World Is Flat, Thank You for Being Late and Hot, Flat, and Crowded.

Ralph Alswang

Thomas Friedman at The New York Times