Levant
Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean
Philip Mansel
- Levant
- is
- a
- book
- of
- cities.
- It
- describes
- the
- role
- of
- Smyrna,
- Alexandria
- and
- Beirut
- as
- windows
- on
- the
- world,
- escapes
- from
- nationality
- and
- tradition,
- centres
- of
- wealth,
- pleasure
- and
- freedom.
- By
- their
- mix
- of
- races
- and
- religions,
- they
- challenge
- stereotypes.
- France
- and
- Britain
- liberated
- the
- area
- through
- their
- schools,
- while
- conquering
- it
- through
- arms.
- They
- were
- not
- only
- manipulators
- but
- manipulated,
- often
- invited
- in
- by
- local
- factions.
- Smyrna,
- Alexandria
- and
- Beirut
- were
- both
- pacifiers
- and
- stimulants
- of
- nationalism.
- Nasser
- was
- born
- in
- Alexandria,
- Smyrna
- and
- Beirut
- became
- centres
- of
- Turkish
- and
- Arab
- nationalism.Using
- unpublished
- family
- papers
- Philip
- Mansel
- describes
- their
- colourful,
- contradictory
- history,
- from
- the
- beginning
- of
- the
- French
- alliance
- with
- the
- Ottoman
- Empire
- in
- the
- sixteenth
- century
- to
- their
- decline
- in
- the
- mid
- twentieth
- century.
- Smyrna
- was
- burnt;
- Alexandria
- Egyptianised;
- Beirut
- lacerated
- by
- civil
- war.
- Levant
- is
- the
- first
- history
- in
- English
- of
- these
- cities
- in
- the
- modern
- age.
- Levant
- is
- also
- a
- challenge
- from
- history.
- It
- is
- about
- ourselves;
- it
- shows
- how
- Muslims,
- Christians
- and
- Jews
- live
- together
- in
- cities.
- Levantine
- compromises,
- putting
- deals
- befor
- ideals,
- pragmatism
- before
- ideology,
- made
- these
- cities
- work,
- until
- states
- reclaimed
- them
- for
- nationalism.
- Smyrna,
- Alexandria
- and
- Beirut
- have
- a
- message
- for
- today.
- The
- new
- Levantine
- cities
- of
- the
- twenty-first
- century,
- with
- comparable
- mixes
- of
- races
- and
- religions,
- are
- London,
- Paris
- and
- New York.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
