The Struggle for Egypt: From Nasser to Tahrir Square (Council on Foreign Relations (Oxford)) - Softcover

Steven A. Cook is the Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. A leading expert on Arab and Turkish politics, Cook is the author of Ruling But Not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey.

"Incredibly vivid...the single best book on Egypt."
--Fareed Zakaria

"A timely, well-researched and lucid political history that sweeps back to the origins of the praetorian dynasty that has ruled Egypt since the 1952 military coup."
--The Economist

"With meticulous historical context and the acumen of a political scientist, Cook, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, weaves together a narrative drawn from archives, interviews and his own firsthand reporting during a decade of visits to Egypt.... What Cook has given us is a scholar's well-informed, analytical history, which offers invaluable insights to anyone interested in how Egypt came to its present impasse...a substantial and engaging book."
--New York Times Book Review

"An excellent new book."
--The Christian Science Monitor

"Cook brings the revolution to life. But he does so with the depth of knowledge of someone who has understood the dynamics of Egyptian--indeed, Arab autocracy--for years."
--Slate

"Timely, well-writtenELthe best up-to-date review of Egypt's modern political history through the opening months of the revolution that brought down Hosni Mubarak. His account of how the 1952 Egyptian revolution produced the Nasserist authoritarian regime is more relevant today than ever, as is his discussion of the final years of the decaying Mubarak regime--including intriguing new evidence about Gamal Mubarak's activities."
--ForeignPolicy.com, Best Books on the Middle East, 2011

"Cook's Struggle for Egypt is not just another Arab Spring book but one with lasting relevance for Egypt watchers. With 30 pages of footnotes, a 40-page bibliography and a comprehensive index, it is full of useful reference material, while personal anecdotes provide local flavor and add to the overall appeal.... Even those who know Egypt well will learn something new from this fresh presentation of events."
--Middle East Policy

"The Struggle For Egypt, is a timely, well-researched and lucid political history that sweeps back to the origins of the praetorian dynasty that has ruled Egypt since the 1952 military coup." --The Economist

"Cook's Struggle for Egypt is not just another Arab Spring book but one with lasting relevance for Egypt watchers. With 30 pages of footnotes, a 40-page bibliography and a comprehensive index, it is full of useful reference material, while personal anecdotes provide local flavor and add to the overall appeal . . . Cook's exploration of the history of the regime and the dynamics it produced help place current events in context and provide important insights about how the main protagonists are likely to respond to the evolving order. Even those who know Egypt well will learn something new from this fresh presentation of events." -- iddle East Policy

"Cook is a compelling writer who has a knack for memorable openings and knows how to appeal to both a scholarly audience and the interested general reader. The treatment of the recent political changes in The Struggle for Egypt is a master-class in how popular historians can cover sudden developments while still maintaining a focus on a longer period." -- Matthew Partridge, London School of Economics (June 2012)