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.

The land and people -- Egypt during the Old Kingdom -- The Middle and New Kingdoms -- Nubians, Greeks, and Romans, circa 1200 BCE-632 CE -- Christian Egypt -- Egypt within Islamic empires, 639-969 -- Fatimids, Ayyubids, and Mamluks, 969-1517 -- Ottoman Egypt, 1517-1798 -- Napoleon Bonaparte, Muhammad Ali, and Ismail : Egypt in the nineteenth century -- The British period, 1882-1952 -- Egypt for the Egyptians, 1952-1981 : Nasser and Sadat -- Mubarak's Egypt -- Conclusion: Egypt through the millennia

Extending deconstructive theory to historical and political analysis, Timothy Mitchell examines the peculiarity of Western conceptions of order and truth through a re-reading of Europe's colonial encounter with nineteenth-century Egypt.

A history of Egypt from the Arab conquest to the present day.