Levant：Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean

Levantisabookofcities.ItdescribesSmyrna,AlexandriaandBeirutwhentheywerewindowsontheworld,escapesfromnationalityandtradition,centresofwealth,pleasureandfreedom.Smyrna,AlexandriaandBeirutchallengestereotypes.Theywerebothcosmopolitancitiesandcentresofnationalism.Usingunpublishedfamilypapers,PhilipManseldescribestheircolourful,contradictoryhistory,fromthebeginningoftheFrenchalliancewiththeOttomanEmpireinthesixteenthcenturytotheirdeclineinthemidtwentiethcentury.Smyrnawasburnt;AlexandriaEgyptianised;Beirutlaceratedbycivilwar.