War Hotels

War Hotels is a gripping exploration of hotels in wartime and in other times of crisis, told through the prism of now iconic hotels that were frequented by foreign correspondents, diplomats, aid workers, politicians, paramilitaries, and spies in conflicts in Northern Ireland, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lebanon, Iraq, and Bosnia & Herzegovina. It focuses on hotels that became closely associated with the brutal conflicts in which they were a part, such as the Europa Hotel in Belfast, the Continental and the Caravelle in Saigon, the Commodore in Beirut, and Sarajevo’s Holiday Inn. Building upon the research undertaken for the Al Jazeera documentary series of the same name, this book tells the stories of these hotels in even more fascinating detail, drawing upon in-depth interviews with those who witnessed the tumultuous events that took place within or in the immediate environs of the buildings. By using war hotels as a locus of memory and a lens through which to convey the human stories and the conflicts, they provide not only viable ‘micro-histories’ but a rich vein of historical narratives and moving personal recollections.

Kenneth Morrison is a Professor of History at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK and was the historical consultant for the Al Jazeera series War Hotels. Abdallah El Binni is a Lebanese filmmaker and investigative journalist based in Doha, Qatar. He has covered numerous conflicts as a cameraman and photojournalist, and he was the executive producer and director of the Al Jazeera series War Hotels.

CONTENTS 1. Understanding the War Hotel 2. Saigon’s War Hotels (Vietnam) 3. The Hotel Ledra Palace (Nicosia, Cyprus) 4. The Holiday Inn and the Commodore (Beirut, Lebanon) 5. The Europa Hotel (Belfast, Northern Ireland) 6. The Al Rashid and Palestine Hotels (Baghdad, Iraq) 7. The Holiday Inn (Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina) 8. The Rixos Hotel (Tripoli, Libya)