An overview of the political economy and development of contemporary Egypt, focusing on the nature and extent of economic reform and restructuring in the last twenty years.

Scope and content: "Most of the articles included in this volume were written for Al-Ahram Weekly, the English-language newspaper issued by Egypt's largest state-owned news organization, al-Ahram..."

Peter James, founder and managing director of Cintec International, provides a unique perspective on the construction of Egypt’s ancient pyramids. The book addresses existing theories and contributes new, innovative ideas in order to decode the historic construction of the pyramids. Provides in-depth examination of construction and restoration, supported by an author with fourteen years of knowledge and experience.

A new paperback edition of a best-selling anthology.

Sixteen essays from the Albright conference held at the Johns Hopkins University charting the course of ancient Near Eastern studies in the twenty-first century. This landmark volume is essential reading for both students and scholars.

The waters of the Nile are fundamental to life in Egypt. In this compelling ethnography, Jessica Barnes explores the everyday politics of water: a politics anchored in the mundane yet vital acts of blocking, releasing, channeling, and diverting water. She examines the quotidian practices of farmers, government engineers, and international donors as they interact with the waters of the Nile flowing into and through Egypt. Situating these local practices in relation to broader processes that affect Nile waters, Barnes moves back and forth from farmer to government ministry, from irrigation canal to international water conference. By showing how the waters of the Nile are constantly made and remade as a resource by people in and outside Egypt, she demonstrates the range of political dynamics, social relations, and technological interventions that must be incorporated into understandings of water and its management.

Acquired by the Bodleian Library in 2002, the Book of Curiosities is now recognized as one of the most important discoveries in the history of cartography in recent decades. This eleventh-century Arabic treatise, composed in Egypt under the Fatimid caliphs, is a detailed account of the heavens and the Earth, illustrated by an unparalleled series of maps and astronomical diagrams. With topics ranging from comets to the island of Sicily, from lunar mansions to the sources of the Nile, it represents the extent of geographical, astronomical and astrological knowledge of the time. This authoritative edition and translation, accompanied by a colour facsimile reproduction, opens a unique window onto the worldview of medieval Islam. An extensive glossary of star-names and seven indices, on birds, animals and other items have been added for easy reference.

LAST TRAIN TO CAIRO follows the author and his wife on a chaotic but unforgettable journey through Egypt in the summer of 2014. The intrepid couple travel across Egypt by bus, train, and hired car from Cairo and Giza to Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel, Hurghada, and Alexandria. Along the way they tour ancient sites and hike across modern cities on a trip for the ages.Their odyssey begins with a midnight ride through the streets of Cairo to the pyramids of Giza. Traffic fills the night with blaring horns, roaring motors, and shouting drivers. A wedding party dances in the street and fireworks light the sky. Days later, bombs tear through a crowded subway platform, protesters march in the streets, and soldiers stand guard on every corner. Yet, like a Siren, Egypt teases the two travelers with its song, compelling the curious couple across the restless country.A travel narrative filled with wonder, frustration, and anxiety, LAST TRAIN TO CAIRO is populated with a cast of memorable characters from across Egypt: a hustler, an English teacher, an Egyptologist, expats, taxi drivers, and a riverboat captain named Gin Tonic, among many others. To their voices, the author adds historical context and a bit of humor to deliver a vivid look at Egypt in the twenty-first century.

What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In this work the author analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality. He shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality--the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth--today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values if political action is not taken. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, the author says, and may do so again. This original work reorients our understanding of economic history and confronts us with sobering lessons for today.