A fascinating man. An impossible situation. Thousands of lives at stake. And he pulls off a miracle. That sounds like a formula for novel, and this book does read like one. But the story is true. It is the dramatic tale of how American diplomat Philip Habib worked out a peaceful end to the 1982 Israeli siege of Beirut.

In June 1982, Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon set in motion a mammoth blunder. His invasion of Lebanon to destroy the PLO turned into a flailing siege of Beirut. Only two outcomes were plausible: a bloodbath or bargain.

Legendary American diplomat Philip Habib’s singular purpose was to stop him. While Sharon raced to conclude the siege violently, Habib raced to conclude it peacefully. Thwarted at every turn and risking his life to fight impossible odds, Habib pulled off what George Shultz calls a miracle.

“One Brief Miracle” is the riveting behind-closed-doors account of this masterwork of high-stakes crisis diplomacy. The book is based on 150+ hours of interviews with participants and thousands of pages of declassified government documents, all meticulously documented. Its hardback edition (titled “Cursed Is the Peacemaker”) won praise from “Foreign Affairs” and received the American Academy of Diplomacy book award.

John Boykin

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