Directed at nonspecialists and specialists alike, this book provides factual information about Egypt since 1760, with special emphasis on the modern period, together with appropriate historical interpretation. It stresses people, events, and institutions relevant to Egypt's political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural development.

This book is the first for over 20 years to comprehensively and accessibly examine contemporary issues in Egypt. It presents a series of analyses of politics, culture and society, including many by Egyptian academics and activists. It addresses the turmoil created by imposition of neo-liberal economic policies, the increasingly fragile nature of an authoritarian regime, the influence of movements for democratic opening and popular participation, and the impacts of Islamism.

This groundbreaking work presents original research on cultural politics and battles in Egypt at the turn of the twenty-first century. It deconstructs the boundaries between 'high' and 'low' culture, drawing on conceptual tools in cultural studies, translation studies, and gender studies toanalyze debates in the fields of literature, cinema, mass media, and the plastic arts.