In 1798, for the first time since the Crusades, western armies landed in the Middle East, initiating a confrontation with far-reaching implications. The French, infused with the fire of revolution and republicanism, and imbued with the idealism of the Enlightenment, set out for glory and riches. Their invasion of Egypt, a rebellious province of the sprawling Ottoman Empire, also aimed to weaken British communications with India. They were led by an ambitious and charismatic young general, Napoleon Bonaparte. Shedding new light on the ensuing events, acclaimed historian Juan Cole tells this stirring story through the experiences of soldiers and observers on both sides of the conflict—giving full voice to Muslim points of view. He highlights the mutual incomprehension and the attempts to understand the opportunities and limits of exchange between the two branches of Mediterranean civilization. Beyond detailing the machinations of the French high command, Cole paints a vivid tableau of personal encounters—French scientists seeking to increase their knowledge in a new landscape, French soldiers pursuing romantic dalliances across cultures, and peasants and tribesmen launching determined insurrections. From the unprecedented intellectual challenge for Muslim religious figures to the new public roles adopted by Egyptian women, Napoleon’s impact went beyond the battlefield and still resonates in modern relations between the west and the Middle East.
Napoleon’s Egypt
Invading the Middle East
Juan Cole
294 pp.
20 b/w illus.
15X23.5cm
ISBN 9789774161704
For sale only in the Middle East
$29.50
Related products
Description of Egypt
Notes and Views in Egypt and Nubia
Edward William LaneEdited and with an introduction Jason Thompson
The launching of this hitherto unpublished book by the great nineteenth-century British traveler Edward William Lane (1801–76), a name known to almost everyone in all the many fields of Middle East studies, is a major publishing event. Lane was the author of a number of highly influential works: An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (1836), his translation of The Thousand and One Nights (1839–41), Selections from the Kur-an (1843), and the Arabic–English Lexicon (1863–93). Yet one of his greatest works was never published: after years of labor and despite an enthusiastic reception by the publishing firm of John Murray in 1831, publication of his first book, Description of Egypt, was delayed and eventually dropped, mainly for financial reasons. The manuscript was sold to the British Library by Lane’s widow in 1891, and has only now been salvaged for publication by Dr. Jason Thompson, nearly 170 years after its completion. This enormously important book, which takes the form of a journey through Egypt from north to south, with descriptions of all the ancient monuments and contemporary life that Lane explored along the way, will be of immense interest to both ancient and modern historians of Egypt, and will become an essential companion to his Manners and Customs.
...read more
1 October 2000
Hardbound
786 pp.158 b/w illus.
15X23cm
$39.50
Alexandria
A History and a Guide
E.M. ForsterIntroduction byLawrence Durrell
“Alexandria is still alive and alters even when one tries to sum her up . . . . Only the climate, only the north wind and the sea remain as pure as when Menelaus, the first visitor, landed three thousand years ago.” In the autumn of 1915, in a “slightly heroic mood”, E.M. Forster arrived in Alexandria, full of lofty ideals as a volunteer for the Red Cross. Yet most of his time was spent exploring “the magic, antiquity and complexity” of the place in order to cope with living in what he saw as a “funk-hole.” With a novelist’s pen, he brings to life the fabled, romantic city of Alexander the Great, capital of Greco-Roman Egypt, beacon of light and culture symbolized by the Pharos, where the doomed love affair of Antony and Cleopatra was played out and the greatest library the world has ever known was built. Threading three thousand years of history with vibrant strands of literature and punctuating the narrative with his own experiences, Forster immortalized Alexandria, painting an incomparable portrait of the great city and, inadvertently, himself.
...read more
Hardbound
320 pp.12.5X20cm
$29.95
Edward William Lane, 1801–1876
The Life of the Pioneering Egyptologist and Orientalist
Jason ThompsonFew Western scholars of the Middle East have exerted such profound influence as Edward William Lane. Lane’s Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (1836), which has never gone out of print, remains as a highly authoritative study of Middle Eastern society. His annotated translation of the Arabian Nights (1839–41) retains a devoted readership. Lane’s recently recovered and published Description of Egypt (2000) shows that he was a pioneering Egyptologist as well as orientalist. The capstone of his career, the definitive Arabic-English Lexicon (1863–93), is an indispensable reference tool. Yet, despite his extraordinary influence, little was known about Lane and virtually nothing about how he did his work. Now, in the first full-length biography, Lane’s life and accomplishments are examined in full, including his crucial years of field work in Egypt, revealing the life of a great Victorian scholar and presenting a fascinating episode in east–west encounter, interaction, and representation.
...read more
15 May 2010
Hardbound
760 pp.64 illus.
15X23cm
$39.95
Ayyubid Cairo
A Topographical Study
Neil D. MacKenzieThis comprehensive study, first published by the AUC Press in 1992 examines the structure of the Ayyubid administration in Cairo and the associated military, religious, and commercial milieux. It goes on to survey in detail the changes in the general layout of Cairo–in defenses, governmental and private buildings, water resources, religious institutions and cemetery areas, and markets and commercial establishments. Click here to download the free PDF.
...read more
Free e-book
208 pp.3 maps
14.5X23cm