Kamal Salibi was born in Beirut in 1929. He studies in Beirut and London and is currently Professor of History at the American University of Beirut. He has published many articles, among his books are The Modern History of Lebanon and Crossroads to Civil War.

• How it all began; the confidence game; talking geography; rose among the thorns; the Maronite record; the imagined principality; the mountain refuge; Ottoman Lebanon - how unique?; Phoenicia resurrected; trial and error; the war over Lebanese history; a house of many mansions.

Kamal Salibi was born in Beirut in 1929. He studies in Beirut and London and is currently Professor of History at the American University of Beirut. He has published many articles, among his books are The Modern History of Lebanon and Crossroads to Civil War.

• How it all began; the confidence game; talking geography; rose among the thorns; the Maronite record; the imagined principality; the mountain refuge; Ottoman Lebanon - how unique?; Phoenicia resurrected; trial and error; the war over Lebanese history; a house of many mansions.