Contrary to the conventional wisdom that sectarianism is intrinsically linked to violence, bloodshed, or social disharmony, Max Weiss uncovers the complex roots of Shii sectarianism in twentieth-century Lebanon.

The template for conflicted relations between the Lebanese state and Shii society arose under French Mandate rule through a process of gradual transformation, long before the political mobilization of the Shii community under the charismatic Imam Musa al-Sadr and his Movement of the Deprived, and decades before the radicalization linked to Hizballah. Throughout the period,...