Maalouf attended French Jesuit schools in Beirut and after studying sociology and economics, he continued the long family tradition and became a journalist leading to extensive travel. In 1975, frightened by Muslim and PLO strength, Christian militias attacked Muslims, which led to civil war. As a result in 1977 Maalouf emigrated with his wife and three children to Paris, where they have lived ever since. In 1999 he wrote,
To those who ask, I explain with patience that I was born in Lebanon, lived there until the age of
27, that Arabic is my first language and I discovered Dickens, Dumas and "Gulliver's Travels" in
the Arabic translation, and I felt happy for the first time as a child in my village in the mountains,
the village of my ancestors where I heard some of the stories that would help me later write my
novels. How could I forget all of this? How could I untie myself from it? But on another side, I
have lived on the French soil for 22 years, I drink its water and wine, my hands caress its old
stones everyday, I write my books in French and France could never again be a foreign country. (1)
Maalouf has also had great success as a novelist, winning the Prix de Goncourt for his novel Le rocher de tanios in 1993.
Concerning his otherwise highly acclaimed work on the crusades, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, it should be understood that professional, properly trained scholars, who focus on the crusades, have been considerably less receptive to the value of the work for gaining a better historical understanding of the crusades. For example, Dr. Thomas Madden has described the book as among "The Worst" of those to consult for such an understanding. Dr. Madden wrote,
This book is not really history so much as paraphrasing and selective quotations of various
medieval Arab writers. As a result, it leaves the impression that these authors can be taken at
face value when they are often reporting only rumors or popular legends. Maalouf makes no
attempt to set the record straight. Not surprisingly, the Muslims in this book are portrayed in
the most favorable light, while the “Franj” (the Muslim name for all Westerners) are an evil
plague. Anyone truly interested in medieval Arab depictions of the Crusaders should skip Maalouf
and go right to Francesco Gabrieli’s Arab Historians of the Crusades (Routledge, 1969), where
they are translated in toto. (2)
Amin Maalouf. Books and Writers, 2003
Amin Maalouf Deadly Identities Al Jadid: A Review and Record of Arab Culture and Arts
Amin Maalouf. Interviewed by Jarl Munch of Norwegian Broadcasting NRK on the occasion of the Norwegian translation of "The Crusades Seen Through Arab Eyes". February 14, 1996.
1. Amin Maalouf Deadly Identities Al Jadid: A Review and Record of Arab Culture and Arts
2. Thomas Madden Crusades of History and Politics, Hudson Institute Spring 2002 Issue
(c) Andrew Holt, November 2005- Permision is granted for electronic copying and distribution in print for educational and personal use. No permission is granted for commercial use.