Book excerpt: Until its destruction in 1975, the luxurious St George Hotel was the cosmopolitan centre of Beirut, a meeting place for spies, including Kim Philby, CIA men such as Miles Copeland, diplomats, journalists, politicians and oil sheikhs. The author examines the plots and counterplots, stretching over a quarter of a century, which were formulated at the hotel. Incidents which helped to shape Middle Eastern history are related, such as an attempt to overthrow King Hussein and the assassination of a Syrian president.