Egypt was the first of the Arab-speaking Muslim countries to come into close contact with modern European states. The experience was not a particularly happy one. It resulted in political and economic subjugation and in the breakdown of her traditional culture and society: but it led also to her emancipation from the Ottoman Empire and to the eventual development of a modern and autonomous Egyptian identity. The central aim of this book is to trace the history of Egypt during this period of change, from Napoleon’s invasion at the end of the eighteenth century to the Free Officer’s Revolution in the middle of the twentieth. The author describes the effects of European – particularly British and French – involvement on the course of Egyptian history, shown variously for example in her changing trade pattern, in her forced participation in two world wars and in the planning and construction of the Suez Canal. One of these effects was to stimulate the development of Egyptian nationalism and the emergence of her own leaders. A major factor in the course of Egyptian history, and one of which the author is constantly aware, was the European ignorance of Islamic and Arabic thought and attitudes, which was largely responsible for the misunderstandings and conflicts which characterized the period. The book provides a valuable analysis of interaction between communities with different and sometimes opposing value systems. To understand this interaction is essential to the study of the history, politics and culture of the Middle East.

Ever since Nasser overthrew Prince Farouk in 1952, Egypt has held a special, leading position within the Arab world. It is now facing major problems, the most serious of which are the growing strength of the Muslim fundamentalists, continuing population growth and external debt problems. Together, these are creating a volatile and potentially explosive climate. In this book, the journalist Anthony McDermott examines the development of Egypt from Revolution to the present, describing various features of Egyptian society and the contributions of its leaders. He asks whether Egypt has fulfilled its expected role as the model for Arab and developing countries or whether the peace pact made by Sadat with Israel was a major error, causing Egypt’s withdrawal under Mubarak from the centre of international politics. The book is lively and readable and provides a challenging introduction to the development and problems of the largest country in the Middle East. First published 1988.

As the leaders of a revolutionary, nationalist regime, the Egyptian Free Officers who came to power following the 1952 Revolution committed themselves to the attainment of goals associated with modernization, namely rapid economic development based on State planning and industrialization and the political mobilization of society along State-decreed lines. Arising from a conference held at the Centre of Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS, with contributions from scholars from the Arab world, Europe and the US as well as the UK, these papers raise the questions most important to students of economic and political development.

This book explores the political relationship between the Muslim majority and Coptic minority in Egypt between 1918 and 1952. Many Egyptians hoped to see the collaboration of the 1919 revolution spur the creation of both a new collective Egyptian identity and a state without religious bias. Traditional ways of governing, however, were not so easily cast aside. Some Egyptians held tenaciously to the traditional arrangements which had both guaranteed Muslim primacy and served relatively well to protect the Copts and afford them some autonomy. Differences within the Coptic community over the wisdom of trusting the genuineness and durability of Muslim support for equality were accentuated by a protracted struggle between reforming laymen and conservative clergy for control of the community. The unwillingness of all parties to compromise hampered the ability of the community both to determine and to defend its interests. The Copts met with modest success in their attempt to become full Egyptian citizens. Their influence in the Wafd, the pre-eminent political party, was very strong prior to and in the early years of the constitutional monarchy, and their formal representation was generally adequate and, in some parliaments, better than adequate. However, this very success produced a backlash which caused many Copts to believe, by the 1940s, that the experiment had failed: political activity has become fraught with risk for them. At the close of the monarchy, equality and shared power seemed motions as distant as in the disheartening years before the 1919 revolution.