With the rigorous scholarship he brought to his influential and an exile's passion (he is Palestinian by birth), Edward W. Said traces the fatal collision between two peoples in the Middle East and its repercussions in the lives of both the occupier and the occupied—as well as in the conscience of the West. He has updated this landmark work to portray the changed status of Palestine and its people in light of such developments as the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the the Gulf War, and the ongoing MIddle East peace initiative. For anyone interested in this region and its future, remains the most useful and authoritative account available.