Libri su Beirut (città) migliori e consigliati

Widely praised as the definitive history of Beirut, this is the story of a city that has stood at the crossroads of Mediterranean civilization for more than four thousand years. The last major work completed by Samir Kassir before his tragic death in 2005, “Beirut” is a tour de force that takes the reader from the ancient to the modern world, offering a dazzling panorama of the city’s Seleucid, Roman, Arab, Ottoman, and French incarnations. Kassir vividly describes Beirut’s spectacular growth in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, concentrating on its emergence after the Second World War as a cosmopolitan capital until its near destruction during the devastating Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990. Generously illustrated and eloquently written, “Beirut” illuminates contemporary issues of modernity and democracy while at the same time memorably recreating the atmosphere of one of the world’s most picturesque, dynamic, and resilient cities.

Libano 1983: per la prima volta dopo la Seconda guerra mondiale un reparto italiano viene spedito oltre i confini nazionali. Franco Bettolini, protagonista di quella operazione, all’età di 19 anni sbarca con i suoi «fratelli» bersaglieri a Beirut, diventata ormai una città fantasma: vedrà miseria, disperazione e morte a ogni angolo. I sogni della gioventù devono cedere il passo alla crudezza di quella realtà. In Postazione 23 Bettolini ha affidato i suoi ricordi alla scrittrice Marina Crescenti che, con la freschezza di una scrittura in presa diretta, ha saputo rievocare tanto gli orrori della guerra quanto i gesti di sorprendente umanità scaturiti in quelle drammatiche circostanze così come le reazioni della popolazione, che si legò al contingente italiano capace di mostrare fermezza e umanità. Una storia di dedizione, di speranza e di pace.

This is the story of Zena, a young woman who has fallen under the spell of a city that threatens to engulf her in war, grief and love affairs. In the streets armed militias carve out their territories, while ragged construction workers rebuild the city. Refugees sleep five to a bed as bleach-blondes wend their way to the next drug-fuelled supernightclub. At any moment, the bombs will start falling. Meanwhile, Zena and her best friend Maya must try to make sense of their lives amidst the craziness, and negotiate the city’s many obsessions including cosmetic surgery, husband hunting and Kalashnikovs. As honest as it is forgiving, this artist’s memoir pits love and art against the ever-present threat of war.