Norton Looks Inside Hezbollah

If Augustus Richard Norton had written my high school history books, I may have developed a more favorable outlook on the subject. As it is, he did not, and now I must accept that in the field of historical knowledge, I have a rather arbitrary appreciation for the study of Hezbollah, a Lebanese political organization that is often simply described as a terrorist group.

In “Hezbollah: A Short History,” Norton, a Boston University professor who formerly served as a United Nations military observer in the region, draws upon his years of study to deliver a clear, concise, and accessible report on the history of Hezbollah and its activity and interaction with other groups in Lebanon. Short personal anecdotes from his time in Lebanon add both color and authority to the book.

Norton’s portrait of Hezbollah is a complex one that moves beyond its status on the American list of foreign terrorist organizations. He brings to light many of the group’s other activities, including providing critical services in a region that is often impoverished and ravaged by violence.

“Hezbollah offers an array of social services to its constituents that include construction companies, schools, hospitals, dispensaries, and micro-finance initiatives,” he writes. “Hezbollah hospital and clinic staff also treat walk-in patients, regardless of political views or their sect, for only a small fee.”

Yet Norton also deals with the violent aspects of Hezbollah, including its conflict with Israel in the summer of 2006, which garnered a vast amount of attention from the international community. Norton wisely avoids condoning its actions while providing a compelling explanation for the authority Hezbollah has in some sectors of Lebanese society, including holding seats in the Lebanese parliament despite its previous opposition to the established government. He notes that Hezbollah gained power not only through military action, but also by providing “an impressive and rapid response to the needs of those whose homes and lives were ravaged,” Norton writes.

Although Norton orders “Hezbollah” in a way that sometimes requires him to backtrack chronologically, the structure never becomes confusing. Indeed, the only times that Norton’s narrative seems disjuncted are the rare moments when he attempts to add a literary flourish to information that is fascinating and provactive enough on its own. At one point, Norton writes, “Israeli efforts to excise the ‘cancer’ of Hezbollah proved as deadly as misapplied chemotherapy for a cancer patient.” This line and others like it are not only out of place, but completely unnecessary.

Still, Norton presents a solid history of the creation of Hezbollah, the context in which it developed, its current place in the Middle East and the world, and his predictions for its future. For those looking for a background of this prominent group, “Hezbollah: A Short History” provides a thorough yet terrifically brief 200-page overview. If only more classroom text writers would take a page out of Norton’s book.