A timeless and profound portrayal of life in a war-torn city, published in the UK for the first time

'An impassioned cry against indifference' - New York Times 'Stunning and forensic, witnessing everyday life in the midst of siege' Tareq Baconi, author of Fire in Every Direction With an introduction by susan abulhawa 'Beirut was a city like any other. What happened here could, I think, happen anywhere' Jean Said Makdisi arrived in Beirut as an outsider: a Palestinian refugee who had escaped Jerusalem in 1948 and had grown up across Egypt and America. But in 1975, as Lebanon's capital became the locus of a ferocious civil war, Jean decided to stay. As sectarian violence mounted and the city collapsed around her, she documented it all: the cars that exploded in the street; the high-rise buildings that turned to dust; the museums that became military checkpoints; the bifurcation of the city; and the brutality of the Israeli siege in 1982. Taking in the fourteen years of civil war, Makdisi lays bare the violent face of conflict, meticulously documenting its impact on every aspect of civilian life - from the fearsome whistle of shellfire, to the mundanity of queuing for food, to the constant, wandering search for lost loved ones. Intimate and profound, Beirut Fragments is a heartbreaking memoir of a city under siege and an impassioned defence of collective humanity. With vivid insight and urgency, Makdisi records civilian life brought to its limits and reconstructs the image of a place - and its people - that emerged from the ashes.

"Beirut Fragments attains the vividness of a nightmare" - The New Yorker

"An impassioned cry against indifference" - New York Times

"A profound, heartbreaking book" - Los Angeles Times

"A beautifully crafted memoir... the first detailed account by a civilian of daily life in the cockpit of the Middle East war" - Publishers Weekly

"Beirut Fragments, like a eulogy, staggers sharply down Beirut's bombed-out streets, pausing for moments of doleful lyricism, numbness, and rage... an angry and sometimes hopeful homage to the Beirutis who stayed despite the exceptional carnage" - The Village Voice

"A rare insider's view of a tragic and protracted conflict" - Kirkus Reviews

"Praise for Jean Said Makdisi: Makdisi's beautifully crafted, honest memoir is a story that does not so much revolve around Lebanon as pass through it, only to eventually build a home within it" - Guardian