From an archaeological perspective, and drawing on new excavations, Kemp (Egyptology, Cambridge) explores ways in which Egypt of about 3000-1000 BC prefigures our own culture. He discusses what he sees as major shaping forces of the civilization, such as political myth and ideology, bureaucracy, the quest for food and work, charismatic rule, the political and economic constraints on daily life, and the interplay between change and stability through the centuries. Contains many plans of buildings and towns, and redrawings of carvings. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

The launching of this hitherto unpublished book by the great nineteenth-century British traveler Edward William Lane (1801-76), a name known to almost everyone in all the many fields of Middle East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. ''Jason Thompson's exact and dedicated edition deserves much praise.''-Astene Newsletter, June 2002. ''Thompson, a historian at AUC, has done signal service in taking a manuscript dating from 1831 and preparing it for publication so many years later; AUC Press deserves praise for making so major a work available, and at so reasonable a price.''-Daniel Pipes, Middle East Quarterly, June 2001. ''In all, the appearance of this major work of scholarship at this late date is a major boon to the study of Egypt's history between the pharaohs and 18280.''-Daniel Pipes, Middle East Quarterly, June 2001.

Re-Envisioning Egypt, 1919-1952 presents new and often dismissed aspects of the constitutional monarchy era in Egyptian history. It demonstrates that many of the domestic and regional sociopolitical and cultural changes credited to the 1952 revolutionaries actually began in the decades before the July coup. Arguing against the predominant view of the pre-revolutionary era in Egypt as one of creeping decay, the volume restores understandings of the 1919-1952 years as integral to modern nation-state formation and social transformation. The book's contributors show that Egypt's real revolutions were long-term processes emerging over several decades prior to 1952. The leaders of the 1952 coup capitalized on these developments, yet earlier changes in Egyptian society fundamentally facilitated their actions and policies. This volume includes revisionist discussion of domestic political issues and foreign policy; the military, education, social reform, and class; as well as popular media, art, and literature. By introducing new approaches to these under-appreciated categories of analysis through exploration of untapped sources and by re-examining the political context of the time, Re-Envisioning Egypt, 1919-1952 proposes innovative methodologies for understanding this crucial period in Egyptian history, casting these years as fundamental to the country's twentieth-century trajectory. Contributors: Tewfik Aclimandos, Malak Badrawi, Andrew Flibbert, Nancy Gallagher, Arthur Goldschmidt, Mervat Hatem, Misako Ikeda, Amy J. Johnson, Anne-Claire Kerboeuf, Samia Kholoussi, Hanan Kholoussy, Fred Lawson, Shaun T. Lopez, Scott David McIntosh, Roger Owen, Lucie Ryzova, Barak A. Salmoni, James Whidden, Caroline Williams.

"The most comprehensive account of the economy, society, and culture of Hellenistic Egypt available in English."--J.G. Manning, author of Land and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt: The Structure of Land Tenure

Tracing the development of Islam as a multidimensional force in Egypt, Sullivan (political science, Northeastern U.) and Abed-Kotob (associate editor, Middle East Journal) analyze the role it plays in governance and opposition to political authority; in social relations (including between women and men, and Muslims and Christians); and in the often overlooked area of socioeconomic development. They conclude by weighing the potential for cooperation between a secular regime and a resurgent religious society. Many of the references are translated from Arabic. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

An exciting blend of fact and fiction and comic-book style illustrations make learning about Ancient Egypt fun in this book in the Good Times Travel Agency series.

Despite its authoritarian political structure, Egypt's government has held competitive, multi-party parliamentary elections for more than 30 years. This book argues that, rather than undermining the durability of the Mubarak regime, competitive parliamentary elections ease important forms of distributional conflict, particularly conflict over access to spoils. In a comprehensive examination of the distributive consequences of authoritarian elections in Egypt, Lisa Blaydes examines the triadic relationship between Egypt's ruling regime, the rent-seeking elite that supports the regime, and the ordinary citizens who participate in these elections. She describes why parliamentary candidates finance campaigns to win seats in a legislature that lacks policymaking power, as well as why citizens engage in the costly act of voting in such a context.

Research report on food policy and the food subsidy and rationing system in Egypt - considers the origins of the system, food security structure, commodity marketing channels and principal commoditys subsidised; examines food policy decision making and regional level economic administration, as well as distributional and nutritional implications in urban areas and rural areas; discusses current food policy trends. Bibliography, diagrams, statistical tables.

To travelers, Egypt is a place of dreams: a country whose lifeblood is a mighty river, flowing from the heart of Africa. Along the fertile fringe of its banks an astonishing civilization raised spectacular monuments that our modern minds can hardly encompass. For centuries this past dominated travelers' minds - yet the present and its great buildings too engaged their interest and admiration and gave them pleasure. The experience of Egypt has over the centuries inspired travelers to write of what they saw and tried to understand. These travelers' observations are part of the history of modern Egypt, for seeing ourselves through others' eyes helps us to understand ourselves. The compilers of this anthology have selected records of travelers from many countries and cultures over many centuries, and, mainly using the Nile for a pathway, here offer these travelers' observations on the many facets of Egypt. The collection includes extracts from the writings of Herodotus, Strabo, Ibn Hawkal, al-Muqaddasi, Pierre Loti, Rudyard Kipling, Florence Nightingale, and many more.

An award-winning writer and international journalist leads the general reader through ancient Egypt, exploring the maze of facts and fantasies, and examines Egypt's place in the history of religion and monotheism in particular. Volume 1 examines the conte.