Book Review: A History of Egypt

An extract from David Stanford ’s review for the Daily News Egypt

When American historian Jason Thompson was first asked to write a compact single-volume history of Egypt for the AUC Press, his first reaction was to decline. After all, such a work would span several thousand years, and take in some huge shifts in language, creed and culture, each one normally considered the domain of specialists. Packing all of it into one book without any major errors of omission or emphasis would require considerable skill and breadth of vision.

After some careful consideration and a review of the existing literature, he decided at last to take up the challenge, and the result is “A History of Egypt,” a handy volume that he hopes will meet the needs not only of students and academics, but also of those with a personal fascination for the country and its much-visited sites.

Thompson’s own background includes a good deal of academic research, teaching and authorship of the Middle East, with a specialization in East-West encounters. The breadth of his knowledge has enabled him to tackle the subject matter with some authority, and indeed the book reads as a convincing chronological account of the major developments in history, with a strong thread of political events and key figures.

The structural backbone of the book lies in the nation’s political story, those landmark events of dynasty, conquest and revolution. And this forms the basis for a discussion of attitudes towards government and the importance of social order, a notion encapsulated in the ancient Egyptian term Maat. Readers will no doubt be drawn to making comparisons between leaders across the ages, who appear to have taken it upon themselves to lead at times by means of tyranny.

Key figures such as Akhenaten, Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and Mohamed Ali Pasha have all been honored with as much space as this compact work allows. But as the centuries pass, the figures come into sharper focus.

Thompson is full of insights into the personalities, ideologies and policy decisions of presidents Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak. The transformation from revolution to realism is clearly laid out, as is the struggle for the assertion of democratic values against an age-old culture of paternalism.

Thompson’s tone, both in interview and in the text, suggests a deep respect for Egypt and its history, and he says he hopes that the recording of history can itself play a part in the health of the nation.

“I think that historical awareness is a source of strength, and I think the Egypt possesses very great, strong, unique social strains. And in a changing world, they’re going to have to be strong to preserve the things that are of importance to them, that are of value,” he says.

“One of my major worries, of course, is globalization or homogenization of culture. We want to see progress; we don’t want to be prisoners of the past. But neither do we want to see Egypt turned into a Dubai or something like that. I’d rather not.”

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