Beirut in the 1970s is a paradise. Families fill their shopping carts with luxury products . Ziadé Lamia , at age seven , American candy dreams and travel. Considered by the elite the "Paris or Monaco of the Middle East" , Beirut is really a powder keg waiting for a spark . The April 13, 1975 , Lamia and his family returning from a picnic when they find the burning city . Looking back to the golden days before the war and the devastating effects it entailed , Bye Bye Babylon is a touching story from the perspective of a child, a narrative in which consumption icons appear beside burning buildings , scenes of violence and colorful new weapons. Bye Bye Babylon is a unique memory and an important graphic document of a terrible war.