This book addresses a topic that has aroused much interest since June 1982: the relations between Israel and the Maronite community in Lebanon and the historical and ideological origins of these relations. Brought to the fore by Israel's invasion of Lebanon, this relationship so far has been the subject of three major—and one should add, conflicting—contributions, by Benny Morris,1 Avi Shlaim,2 and Eyal Zisser.3 Morris's and Shlaim's works are quoted extensively in Kirsten Schulze's book; Zisser's is not even mentioned (though the author is quoted as a source). This, I believe, has much bearing on the validity of Schulze's arguments, because these studies represent two differing views with regard to the matter at stake: how should one interpret archival material and memoirs, place them in their rightful context, and form a firmly grounded opinion as to past events.