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Summary: If you read only one book on the middle east, it's the one
Review: My comment will be short but relates to a real storie : In 93, I shared a student flat with a french and a lebanese student in Manhattan. I am myself both French and Israeli. None of us were particularly dovish or extremist. The french student asked us about the best book to read about the arab israeli conflict and we both answered mr. Friedman book. I don't know about any other book that could possibly gather so differents views of the world Since then, many things have changed but I would still get the same answer. My guess is that my flatmate would agree with it !
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Summary: fantastic
Review: thats all I have to say about that
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Summary: Subjectivity is in the Eye of the Beholder
Review: Mr. Friedman has taken on a difficult emotional topic and presented many viewpoints with the objectivity of a true journalist. Certainly, Mr. Friedman has his own opinions, and equally certainly, many of them appear in the book. Nevertheless, From Beirut to Jerusalem contains important insights for the stateless as well as the statesmen. Aside, perhaps, from A Compassionate Peace, it is among the most even-handed essay-style treatments available of the difficult issues it addresses. At the risk of precipitating Mr. Friedman's reassignment to Purgatory, I would submit that reading a sequel might help those on all sides to get on with it and then to get over it.
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Summary: This book is still good after ten years!
Review: This Book is Tom's Personal Account of his experiences in first Beirut and then Jerusalem. It is very exciting reading. The only criticism I have is that he does not mention the 400,000 demonstration in 1982, Headed by Peace Now, Shimon Peres, Amnon Rubenstein and many others, against Arik Sharon, demanding an Inquiry to the Sabra-Shatila Massacre (By Christian Phalangists). The book is excellant reading 10 years after and shows how difficult things are in the MUDLLE EAST. Especially the 1980's stalemate in Israeli Politics...
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Summary: Unbelievably touching and insightful
Review: When I first picked up this book I expected a drab list of events, I was pleasently surprised to find that this is much more than a history book, it is a living, breathing memoir of a real person who experienced and reported on events in the Middle East during the 1980's.
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Summary: No other book / article has described my past as well
Review: Having grown up in Beirut in the mid '80s, I could relate to Thomas Freidman's desciption of the conflict and plight of the Middle East during that era. Not only does he cover the political and social history, he accurately depicts what it was like to be there during all of the events. Freidman manages to combine historical facts with personal Arab and Jewish opinions and views while keeping the reader deeply enthraled. Freidman accurately describes Middle Eastern views in a way westerners can accurately and easily understand. This is an extremely difficult task and he has succeeded marvelously !
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Summary: Kudos to the author's objectivity!
Review: So I waited ten years before I read this book. Things that I heard so much about in the 80s yet didn't care for much either came back with this book as a well-balanced, logical, and coherent eye-opener. The firsthand, eyewitness accounts and investigative journalism writing style are the book's big plus. Friedman, his Jewish ethnicity and background notwithstanding, is commended for providing ample opportunities for Palestinians and Lebanese Muslims to express their views, opinions, and experiences so that we can all hear from both sides.
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Summary: Excellent account of Israeli atrocities
Review: A few people have claimed that this book is too one-sided. The fact is that is tells the truth. One cannot favor a side when describing that massacre of over 1,000 innocent civilianz in Sabra and Shatila by Phalangist militia under the guidance and support of the Israeli army. Some might want to conceal the truth but Friedman tells the truth with a style that is easy to read and gives an excellent account of the events that unfolded in Beirut during the early 80's.
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Summary: Informative
Review: This book is informative for those who, in the 80's, remembered seeing the violence in the Middle East every night on the evening news, but were too young or distracted to understand the content. It may seem pro-Arab in parts, but it creates a balance to the ever so pro Israel attitude we see in the media now. Now, if you want to get a real feel for the Lebonese-Israel conflict, read this book and go spend a few days in Metulla.
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Summary: An Excellent, Thought-Provoking Work
Review: This book shed more light for me on the intricacies of the Middle East than anything I have ever read. Not only that, but Friedman points out some fascinating reasons for the foreign media's obsession with Israel. Objective and concise, "Beirut To Jerusalem" is a wonderful read.
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