Ussama Makdisi is Assistant Professor of History at Rice University.

"This work is a meticulous deconstruction of sectarianism as a discourse spawned by a particular historic conjecture—Ottoman reform in the age of European domination—in and around the tiny peripheral society of 19th-century Mount Lebanon. It is also an impassioned insistence not only on the historic but also the moral urgency of recognizing the contingency of, and the human agency in, the emergence of sectarianism and an invitation for hope in a Lebanese future that might yet dare to embrace an alternative modernity. Makdisi's book is not only illuminated by the scholar's insight; it is also animated by empathy for his subject matter and a talent that brings local society and its mountainous vistas vividly to the mind's eye."

• List of Maps Preface and Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration 1. RELIGION AS THE SITE OF THE COLONIAL ENCOUNTER 2. THE GENTLE CRUSADE 3· KNOWLEDGE AND IGNORANCE 4· THE FACES OF REFORM 5· REINVENTING MOUNT LEBANON 6. THE RETURN OF THE JUHHAL 7· THE DEVIL'S WORK 8. 11 A VERY OLD THINGEPILOGUE Notes Bibliography Index

Ussama Makdisi is Assistant Professor of History at Rice University.

"This work is a meticulous deconstruction of sectarianism as a discourse spawned by a particular historic conjecture—Ottoman reform in the age of European domination—in and around the tiny peripheral society of 19th-century Mount Lebanon. It is also an impassioned insistence not only on the historic but also the moral urgency of recognizing the contingency of, and the human agency in, the emergence of sectarianism and an invitation for hope in a Lebanese future that might yet dare to embrace an alternative modernity. Makdisi's book is not only illuminated by the scholar's insight; it is also animated by empathy for his subject matter and a talent that brings local society and its mountainous vistas vividly to the mind's eye."

• List of Maps Preface and Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration 1. RELIGION AS THE SITE OF THE COLONIAL ENCOUNTER 2. THE GENTLE CRUSADE 3· KNOWLEDGE AND IGNORANCE 4· THE FACES OF REFORM 5· REINVENTING MOUNT LEBANON 6. THE RETURN OF THE JUHHAL 7· THE DEVIL'S WORK 8. 11 A VERY OLD THINGEPILOGUE Notes Bibliography Index

Ussama Makdisi is Assistant Professor of History at Rice University.

"This work is a meticulous deconstruction of sectarianism as a discourse spawned by a particular historic conjecture—Ottoman reform in the age of European domination—in and around the tiny peripheral society of 19th-century Mount Lebanon. It is also an impassioned insistence not only on the historic but also the moral urgency of recognizing the contingency of, and the human agency in, the emergence of sectarianism and an invitation for hope in a Lebanese future that might yet dare to embrace an alternative modernity. Makdisi's book is not only illuminated by the scholar's insight; it is also animated by empathy for his subject matter and a talent that brings local society and its mountainous vistas vividly to the mind's eye."

• List of Maps Preface and Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration 1. RELIGION AS THE SITE OF THE COLONIAL ENCOUNTER 2. THE GENTLE CRUSADE 3· KNOWLEDGE AND IGNORANCE 4· THE FACES OF REFORM 5· REINVENTING MOUNT LEBANON 6. THE RETURN OF THE JUHHAL 7· THE DEVIL'S WORK 8. 11 A VERY OLD THINGEPILOGUE Notes Bibliography Index