Product Description

Pity the Nation ranks among the classic accounts of war in our time, both as historical document and as an eyewitness testament to human savagery. Written by one of Britain's foremost journalists, this remarkable book combines political analysis and war reporting in an unprecedented way: it is an epic account of the Lebanon conflict by an author who has personally witnessed the carnage of Beirut for over a decade. Fisk's book recounts the details of a terrible war but it also tells a story of betrayal and illusion, of Western blindness that had led inevitably to political and military catastrophe. Updated and revised, Fisk's book gives us a further insight into this troubled part of the world. 'Robert Fisk is one of the outstanding reporters of this generation. As a war correpondent he is unrivalled.' Edward Mortimer, Financial Times

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65506 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 727 pages

Amazon.co.uk Reviews
Twenty-five years after first setting foot on Lebanese soil, award-winning journalist Robert Fisk has revised his brilliant study of this troubled country, Pity the Nation, for a third edition, to include the years since its initial publication in 1990. Artificially created as a country by the French in 1920, Lebanon's revenge was to "welcome all her invaders and then kiss them to death". Since arriving during the 1976 Muslim-Maronite civil war, Fisk has travelled its length to seek out, as well as provide, eye-witness account of combat and atrocity. The book's main pre-occupation is the Israeli invasion of the early 1980s and its terrible aftermath, including the appalling massacre of Palestinians at the Shabra and Chatila camps. Banned in Lebanon itself, the first edition of Pity the Nation ended with close friend and colleague Terry Anderson still being held by Islamic Jihad. Inevitably, Anderson's release in 1991, along with other Western hostages such as Terry Waite and John McCarthy, emotionally informs the bulk of the new material, which also considers the Gulf War, Islamic resurgence, the collapse of the Oslo peace agreement and the bloody 1996 Qana massacre in a UN refugee compound by Israeli forces, to which Fisk bears terrible witness. He sees Yasser Arafat make the transmission from "terrorist to superstatesman to superterrorist", but by the end of this exhaustive testimony, virtually the last Western journalist left in West Beirut, he admits, "I still fear the monsters". And then Ariel Sharon is elected prime minister of Israel in February 2001.

Fisk, formerly of The Times and now Middle East correspondent for The Independent, writes as combatively as the events he so vividly describes. With a fastidious eye for detail, he rails against day-tripping reporters who betray truth with their clichés and loose language, constantly defending language against false appropriation: "terrorism", for example, wielded by one side to describe acts committed against them, deprives the term of any objective purpose and thus legitimises reprisal. He makes reparation with this unique and passionate analysis, still angry after all these years, which remains the most relentless and convincing account yet of the bloodiest quarter-century in Lebanon's history. --David Vincent

Synopsis
Pity the Nation ranks among the classic accounts of war in our time, both as historical document and as an eyewitness testament to human savagery. Written by one of Britain's foremost journalists, this remarkable book combines political analysis and war reporting in an unprecedented way: it is an epic account of the Lebanon conflict by an author who has personally witnessed the carnage of Beirut for over a decade. Fisk's book recounts the details of a terrible war but it also tells a story of betrayal and illusion, of Western blindness that had led inevitably to political and military catastrophe. Updated and revised, Fisk's book gives us a further insight into this troubled part of the world. 'Robert Fisk is one of the outstanding reporters of this generation. As a war correpondent he is unrivalled.' - Edward Mortimer, Financial Times

Customer Reviews

The best analysis of the civil war
Robert Fisk's important book on the history of the civil war in Lebanon, up to the recent past, provides one of the most authoritative sources on the country's recent history, the tragedies that have taken place there, and the political background that has created such internal strife. Having recently visited Lebanon and the south of the country, Pity the Nation allowed me to have some insight into the complex social issues the people face.

Fisk's biggest achievement with this account, however, is that he manages to describe the situation on the ground for ordinary people and viscerally depicts the terror of living under constant fear or war, invasion, death, destruction, terrorism and lack of hope. Important reading for understanding many of the issues in the Middle Easy today including the policies of Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, PLO and the USA and their complex relationships in this divided nation.

"Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation."
This book provides an exceptional depiction of the tragedies that Lebanon underwent during the last quarter of the 20th century,

The bulk of the book focuses on the events that took place during the civil war between 1975 and 1990, hence, it covered the Syrian intervention in 1976, the Israeli invasions in both 1978 and 1982, and the involvement of the multinational forces (USA, Britain and Italy) in the aftermath of the 1982 invasion, which triggered an escalation in civil war. Although not covered in much details, Robert Fisk provides brief snaps taken from the major events that led the deterioration of the situation in Lebanon, such as the Jewish Holocaust and the ethnics cleansing of Palestine. In addition, there are small sections that covered briefly events related to the Lebanese history during the 1860s (Christians and Druze civil war) and 1950s (USA's first involvement).

Despite some accusations against Mr Fisk of being biased in his reporting, I felt that the author has presented a valuable piece of work that successfully captured the ugliness of the war, and exposed the wrong doings of all involved from Palestinians to Israelis, Muslims and Christians, Syrians and the USA. There is a whole chapter that was dedicated to the role of the media in this conflict and other similar conflicts around the world, as well as the hypocrisy and double standards of reporting that was and continue to brain wash the masses to achieve some cynical goals.

This book is a valuable resource for anyone who has an interest in the Lebanese history or the recent developments in the Middle East. It is a little grim and harsh at times, but so has been the fate of this region of the world for as far as I can remember.

The Horrors of the Nation
Robert Fisk's extensive account of the Lebanese civil war is an amazing mosaic of events and stories that in its entirety paint a pretty good picture of the horrors that took place from 1976 to 1996. Mr Fisk has an almost unparalleled ability to be on the spot as events are either unfolding or have just happened.

Pity the Nation is the story of a journalist working in pretty dire conditions and a first account witness statement to the atrocities of civil war, Israeli invasion, more Israeli invasion and involvement by Syria, France, USA, Italy and many other countries that have somehow seemed to get involved in the destiny of Lebanon.

Fisk, along with Norwegian journalist Karsten Tveit, were the first to enter Sabra and Shatila after the massacre and recounts in graphic detail the sheer horror of the systematic extermination by the Christian Lebanese Forces and under the watchful eye of the occupying Israeli Defence Force. Fisk also found himself passing through Hama in Syria in 1982 when President Assad's forces killed between 10,000 and 25.000 civilians in an attempt to oust Muslim Brotherhood influence on Syrian politics. Lastly, he worked with Terry Andersson who was later to be kidnapped and held hostage for over 5 years. It is these stories, along with many more, that combine to give a full and fairly clear picture of war and politics in the Levant over a 20 year period.

Unfortunately the book does not work as a historical account and there are a number of omissions in the book that would need to be included for it to work. More attention would need to be given to the bombing of the US Embassy (such as motive and speculation / evidence as to who was involved), the kidnappings would need to be elaborated and especially the kidnapping of Terry Waite, which I think is dealt with very superficially. Fisk never pretends that Pity the Nation is a historical description of war in Lebanon.

Fisk is a brave man (you would have to be to have lived in Lebanon through the war) and has made himself controversial by writing the book. There is a multitude of very critical reviews by people who in one way or another find it difficult to deal with the very gory and almost unbelievable facts of the conflict. I, for one, believe Fisk's account to be reasonably truthful and precise, as he does not seem to be pushing any one sided agenda. But judge for yourself and be prepared for some stomach churning stuff . Anyone who went through what he did and was prepared to put it on paper afterwards deserves much more than a 5 Star Rating on Amazon!