‎'‎Part travelogue‎,‎ part political vignettes‎,‎ part personal reminiscences‎,‎ Llewellyn captures the essence of this unique and troubled country‎.‎‎'‎ ‎- David Hirst‎,‎ author of ‎'‎The Gun and the Olive Branch‎'‎‎;‎ ‎'‎Tim Llewellyn‎,‎ a bright and brave BBC correspondent during many of Lebanon‎'‎s earlier seemingly endless little and big wars‎,‎ has returned decades later to scrutinize Beirut and its still largely unresolved problems‎.‎ Read his compelling ‎'‎Spirit of the Phoenix‎'‎ and understand how and why that fabled bird of resilient re‎-birth has survived in Lebanon‎,‎ but just barely‎,‎ alas‎,‎ and missing many of its feathers‎.‎‎'‎ ‎- Jonathan Randal‎,‎ former Middle East correspondent for the Washington Post‎,‎ and the author of ‎'‎Osama‎:‎ The Making of a Terrorist‎'‎ ‎(‎I‎.‎B‎.‎Tauris‎,‎ 2006‎)‎