ASעAD ABUKHALIL, Historical Dictionary of Lebanon, Asian Historical Dictionaries, No. 30 (Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1998). Pp. 290. $65.00 cloth.

Extract

Writing a historical dictionary of a country is a difficult task. The author encounters fundamental questions in defining the scope of the academic enterprise and faces hard choices in setting its boundaries and goals. Subsequently, the author has to make careful decisions about entries that should be included and others that should be discarded. For example, what makes a certain event more or less important, and on what basis should this judgment be made? Similarly, who should be recognized? Should the author consider a person's fame, contributions, or a mixture of both factors?