By occupying Syria and the Holy Places of the Hijaz, Ali Bey sought to make Egypt the dominant power in the 18th-century Arab world. P.M. Holt suggests that his policy of expansion, which included an alliance with Russia, has some interesting modern parallels.
Charles Chenevix Trench finds that, as Governor of Equatoria and then Governor-General of the Sudan from 1874-1880, one of C. G. Gordon’s chief concerns was suppressing the slave-trade.
Roger Howard recalls a moment when Israel was rocked by exaggerated claims of a threat posed by Egypt.
Roger Hudson pictures British gunboat diplomacy in Egypt in 1882.
J.H. Plumb shows how, between 1857 and 1888, after much controversy, the mystery of the Nile’s source was finally solved by the successive discoveries of Speke, Burton, Livingstone and Stanley.
Emile de Groot on the often fractious but ever-intimate relationship between European powers and Egypt.
C.H. Brown presents his study of the political and economic background to mid-twentieth century Egyptian nationalism.
Suggestions that the European Union should have control over Greece’s budget in order to curb its debt crisis have caused a fierce reaction from Athens. James Barker explores a parallel situation in 19th-century Egypt.
Jonathan Downs reports on the fire last December that caused extensive damage to one of Egypt’s most important collections of historical manuscripts.
Michael Scott-Baumann explains why Nasser is such an important figure in the Middle East in the twentieth century.
