As George wrote, ÒMy father told me the loud booms and bright lights on the horizon were wedding celebrations, but I knew he was lying.Ó George was only seven years old when the bombs started dropping on his Greek Orthodox village of Kousba as Lebanon fell into a state of nature known as the Lebanese Civil War of 1975-1990. A year later, George was holding a loaded shotgun in defense of his family from foreign invaders. Other childhood memories include rocket-propelled grenades, the horror of a double assassination in his home, getting ambushed by a paramilitary group, ÒdeathstalkerÓ scorpions, and getting arrested by Syrian soldiers on his way home from school. In a watershed moment after his 16th birthday, George was hunted down and nearly killed by a terrorist organization from Tripoli. George escaped death numerous times, suffered years of material hardship, and endured countless injustices, but never succumbed to despairÑnever lost his faith in God. This is the recurring theme of the book. In one of the most factious places in the world, George never blamed anyone for his misfortunesÑnever pointed fingers. Growing up in the Orthodox Church, George seems to have understood at an early age what Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn discovered later in life, while imprisoned in the Gulag, that Òthe line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties eitherÑbut right through every human heart.Ó Echoes of War, Dreams of Peace reads like a roller coaster. In between the dark, suspenseful encounters and frightening near misses, the reader will find heartwarming joy in GeorgeÕs extraordinary tales of life-saving heroics, community spirit, and the American dream, not to mention a few miracles plus a funny story about a donkey from Bsharri and another about a horse named Abjar., Lebanese Civil War, Orthodox Christian, Hamatoura, Personal Memoir, Kousba, Amioun, George Khoury| 9781257094455 | 118PAGES