Alexandre Najjar – författare

'If there is a man who can read "The Prophet" without a singing in the heart as of music born within, that man is indeed dead to life and truth' - "The Chicago Post". Author of the international bestseller "The Prophet", Kahlil Gibran and his work remain influential to this day. President John F. Kennedy famously quoted from this book: 'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country'. With a simplicity akin to that of Gibran's own writing, Alexandre Najjar retraces Gibran's life, from humble beginnings in Lebanon to his artistic training in Paris and meteoric rise to fame in the US, his adopted home. Najjar examines Gibran's letters, his publisher's archives and unpublished documents, revealing the extent of his influence and the extraordinary message of peace and hope in all of his work.

'All wars are alike. What I experienced in Lebanon, others experienced in France, in Spain, in Yugoslavia, or elsewhere. Yes, all wars are alike, because while weapons change, the men who wage and are subjected to war do not in the least.' Alexandre Najjar was eight when Lebanon erupted into a bloody and brutal conflict; he was twenty-three when the guns at last fell silent. After seven years of voluntary exile spent clearing his mind from the unbearable nightmare of civil war, he is now back amongst his family and friends, and the past is quickly catching up with him. As he reacquaints himself with his bullet-riddled city, Alexandre is haunted by vivid memories, which he sets down with extraordinary imagination and humour. Sometimes nostalgic, and sometimes brutal and shocking, "The School of War" offers unforgettable insights into the experience of childhood in war.