The politics of dispossession

In this brilliant collection of pieces on the question of Palestinian self-determination, Edward Said - the most celebrated, visible, and outspoken Arab writing in America today - looks at the issues behind the Palestinian struggle for statehood.

An Arab born in Jerusalem, educated there and in Cairo, and an American who has lived in the United States since the age of fifteen, the product of an American boarding school, Princeton, and Harvard, Said writes from a unique point of view. An internationally renowned literary and cultural critic, he turned his attention to political writing in 1967 after the seizure of the West Bank.

In these thirty-eight pieces - essays, book and film reviews, and a personal interview - which have appeared between 1969 and 1994 in a wide range of publications, Said provides the context for understanding the recent autonomy agreement between the PLO and Israel, as well as a critical assessment of United States policy toward the Palestinians. He evaluates the argument for a two-state solution, documents the cultural and historical background to the relationships between the Arab Islamic world and the West, and points up the repercussions of the Gulf War.

In all these pieces, Said again and again proves his prescience and deep understanding of an overwhelmingly complex situation.

In a candid and very personal introduction, Said eloquently explains how he came to hold his views.