'A tragic portrait of a disappearing world, created with passion and literary grace' SALMAN RUSHDIE
'Janine di Giovanni is a humane and persistent witness' HISHAM MATAR
'Profoundly moving' MARK TULLY
_______________________
The Vanishing reveals the plight and possible extinction of Christian communities across Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine after 2,000 years in their historical homeland.
Some of the countries that first nurtured and characterized Christianity - along the North African Coast, on the Euphrates and across the Middle East and Arabia - are the ones in which it is likely to first go extinct. Christians are already vanishing. We are past the tipping point, now tilted toward the end of Christianity in its historical homeland. Christians have fled the lands where their prophets wandered, where Jesus Christ preached, where the great Doctors and hierarchs of the early church established the doctrinal norms that would last millennia.
From Syria to Egypt, the cities of northern Iraq to the Gaza Strip, ancient communities, the birthplaces of prophets and saints, are losing any living connection to the religion that once was such a characteristic feature of their social and cultural lives.
In The Vanishing, Janine di Giovanni has combined astonishing journalistic work to discover the last traces of small, hardy communities where ancient rituals are quietly preserved amid 360 degree threats. Full of faith and hope, di Giovanni's riveting personal stories make a unique act of pre-archeology: the last chance to visit the living religion before all that will be left are the stones of the past.
Janine di Giovanni, a former winner of the Courage in Journalism prize, is a shining example of the dwindling band of investigative reporters
-- Martin Chilton - independent.co.ukdi Giovanni brings a compassionate perspective to her narrative, interweaving complex, sometimes dense history with evocative vignettes and interviews
- EconomistJanine di Giovanni's beautifully written and deeply researched study of Christian communities in Iraq, Gaza, Syria, and Egypt is important not only for what it reveals about those vital but largely effaced communities, but also for its careful examination of an issue that is far more complex - as so much is in the Middle East - than typically presented or understood . A compelling and powerful study
-- Sara RoyJanine di Giovanni has reported on war for 25 years. She has written seven books, including the critically acclaimed Madness Visible, The Place at the End of the World, and, most recently, a biography of the Magnum Photographer Eve Arnold. She is the Middle East Editor of Newsweek, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and a regular contributor to the New York Times, Granta and Harper's among many others. A frequent foreign policy analyst on British, American and French television, she has won many awards including Granada Television's Foreign Correspondent of the Year Award, the National Magazine Award, two Amnesty International Media Awards, and the Spear's Memoir of the Year Award for Ghosts by Daylight. She is a Fred Pakis scholar in International Affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, has served as the president of the jury of the Prix Bayeux for war reporters and is a media leader at the World Economic Forum, Davos. She lives in Paris with her son.
www.janinedigiovanni.com
@janinedigi
'A tragic portrait of a disappearing world, created with passion and literary grace' SALMAN RUSHDIE
'Janine di Giovanni is a humane and persistent witness' HISHAM MATAR
'Profoundly moving' MARK TULLY
_______________________
The Vanishing reveals the plight and possible extinction of Christian communities across Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine after 2,000 years in their historical homeland.
Some of the countries that first nurtured and characterized Christianity - along the North African Coast, on the Euphrates and across the Middle East and Arabia - are the ones in which it is likely to first go extinct. Christians are already vanishing. We are past the tipping point, now tilted toward the end of Christianity in its historical homeland. Christians have fled the lands where their prophets wandered, where Jesus Christ preached, where the great Doctors and hierarchs of the early church established the doctrinal norms that would last millennia.
From Syria to Egypt, the cities of northern Iraq to the Gaza Strip, ancient communities, the birthplaces of prophets and saints, are losing any living connection to the religion that once was such a characteristic feature of their social and cultural lives.
In The Vanishing, Janine di Giovanni has combined astonishing journalistic work to discover the last traces of small, hardy communities where ancient rituals are quietly preserved amid 360 degree threats. Full of faith and hope, di Giovanni's riveting personal stories make a unique act of pre-archeology: the last chance to visit the living religion before all that will be left are the stones of the past.
Janine di Giovanni, a former winner of the Courage in Journalism prize, is a shining example of the dwindling band of investigative reporters
-- Martin Chilton - independent.co.ukdi Giovanni brings a compassionate perspective to her narrative, interweaving complex, sometimes dense history with evocative vignettes and interviews
- EconomistJanine di Giovanni's beautifully written and deeply researched study of Christian communities in Iraq, Gaza, Syria, and Egypt is important not only for what it reveals about those vital but largely effaced communities, but also for its careful examination of an issue that is far more complex - as so much is in the Middle East - than typically presented or understood . A compelling and powerful study
-- Sara RoyJanine di Giovanni has reported on war for 25 years. She has written seven books, including the critically acclaimed Madness Visible, The Place at the End of the World, and, most recently, a biography of the Magnum Photographer Eve Arnold. She is the Middle East Editor of Newsweek, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and a regular contributor to the New York Times, Granta and Harper's among many others. A frequent foreign policy analyst on British, American and French television, she has won many awards including Granada Television's Foreign Correspondent of the Year Award, the National Magazine Award, two Amnesty International Media Awards, and the Spear's Memoir of the Year Award for Ghosts by Daylight. She is a Fred Pakis scholar in International Affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, has served as the president of the jury of the Prix Bayeux for war reporters and is a media leader at the World Economic Forum, Davos. She lives in Paris with her son.
www.janinedigiovanni.com
@janinedigi
Subscribe to get Email Updates!
Thanks for subscribing.
Your response has been recorded.

"We Believe In The Power of Books" Our mission is to make books accessible to everyone, and to cultivate a culture of reading and learning. We strive to provide a wide range of books, from classic literature, sci-fi and fantasy, to graphic novels, biographies and self-help books, so that everyone can find something to read.
Whether you’re looking for your next great read, a gift for someone special, or just browsing, Midland is here to make your book-buying experience easy and enjoyable.