Samir Khalaf's Civil and Uncivil Violence in Lebanon is a study in the sociology and history of communal violence and how political conflicts in Lebanon have deteriorated into protracted and visceral violence. However, on another equally profound level, this is a book that seeks to imagine and narrate a Lebanon that goes beyond the contradictory clichés of its past as either Switzerland of the Middle East, or a failed and inherently dysfunctional nation. On both levels, Khalaf succeeds in crafting a narrative that is engaging, scholarly—and, perhaps most refreshing—hopeful.