Cairo [Hardcover]

Andre Raymond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2003

This deluxe, oversized book is an important and definitive illustrated history of Cairo, Egypt's capital and the largest city in the Middle East and Africa. This book chronicles the region's history from before it was founded in 969 A.D. to the present. Cairo has been conquered many times and each of the reigns are presented here-from its founding father through the reigns of the dynasties of Saladin, the Ayyubites, and the Mamluks, the conquest by the Ottoman Empire, the ousting of the French in 1801 and return to Ottoman control under Muhammad Ali. Over 600 full-color photographs, reproductions, and maps illuminate the variant architecture, artifacts, ancient ruins, mosaics, maps, weapons, and much, much more. With an additional full bibliography, glossary, time line, and index, this book is destined to become the ultimate book on Cairo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Compared to many things Egyptian, Cairo, founded in A.D. 642, is relatively modern. Eminent French historian Raymond lucidly delineates how the city, intrinsically tied to Egypt's Islamic history (it was founded during the Arab conquest of this North African country), also reflects the multifaceted trends of modern Egyptian history and brings the city up-to-date in its transformation into the overcrowded, bustling, crumbling metropolis it is today. In the first of the book's four sections, Raymond focuses on archeological and architectural sources to show the ancient foundations upon which Cairo was built. Here and through most of the book the author offers a history less of people and daily life than of structures and space, of how buildings came to be erected. He maintains, for instance, that during the years 642-1250, Islamic leaders were generally tolerant of diverse religious communities, allowing synagogues and churches to be built. The book's two middle sections deal with medieval and traditional Cairo, while the last section, covering the years 1792 to 1992, offers a stimulating exploration of Egypt's contact with the rising powers of the West and the desperate attempt to catch up to the demands of Cairo's ever-growing population. Adeptly translated and equipped with fabulous maps of Cairo during each historic phase, this is a useful and reliable primer on the physical, economic and political history of an important and vibrant city. 63 b&w photos. (Jan. 15)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Egypt has long served as the pulse of the Arab world...[and] a fascinating country for scholars and foreign travelers alike...In this comprehensive study, Raymond...meticulously traces Cairo's history to the present day. The narrative is enhanced by 15 interesting maps, drawings, and photos. Highly recommended. (Nader Entessar Library Journal 20010701)

Eminent French historian Raymond lucidly delineates how the city, intrinsically tied to Egypt's Islamic history...also reflects the multifaceted trends of modern Egyptian history and brings the city up-to-date in its transformation into the overcrowded, bustling, crumbling metropolis it is today...Adeptly translated and equipped with fabulous maps of Cairo during each historic phase, this is a useful and reliable primer on the physical, economic and political history of an important and vibrant city. (Publishers Weekly 20011125)

This is a fabulously interesting work...Most books by westerners which even approach Cairo lose their marbles fairly quickly. [Raymond's book] maintains such a strong hold on them it should be required reading. (Louisa Young The Independent )

[Raymond describes] an evolving Cairo connected to its visible history but not defined by it...If you want to know a place (and, in this case, really know a place), it's vastly more rewarding to read about the whole of that place's culture and people throughout history than to skim over a glorified rundown of what there is to 'see and do.' (Travelocity Magazine )

Raymond has written a thorough, detailed, and interpretive biography of one of the world's great cities. (B. Harris Jr. Choice )

André Raymond, who traces the growth of Cairo from the founding of the garrison city of Fustat by the Muslim conqueror Amr ibn Al-As in the 7th century to the present, has a sanguine attitude. He celebrates the city even as he charts its many problems. His book, like all good history, puts the present in context. He reminds us that however dodgy it is to walk along Cairo's streets in 2001, dodging people and animals, coping with intermittently unpleasant smells, the same walk 300 years ago would have been much worse. (Zachary Karabell Los Angeles Times ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli Universe Promotional Books (October 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789310228
• ISBN-13: 978-0789310224
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 1.7 x 12.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,081,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yes, But It's Useful, June 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Cairo (Hardcover)

I can sympathize with teh reader who found Raymond's book boring and therefore gave it a middling rating. I used the French edition of this book for an MA years ago and while I found it useful because it is of the school of social history that digs out the facts and figures and puts them out there for us to use, it is most definitely useful, not fun. A ghost writer would have been a nice idea to make it an appealing book for general readers. For the academic writer who is looking for facts and figures to bolster an argument, this book is very useful, as are many of Raymond's boring books. Thus, I improve the rating by a star because the content is academically useful, if not intellectually or emotionally appeally beyond academic pursuits. This one's for the professors, and others should surely avoid.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Less taste, more filling, May 31, 2001

By 

Brian V. Hunt "Brian V. Hunt" (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cairo (Hardcover)

It's difficult to give this book a bad review, as it's a masterful, scholarly...collection of facts. The problem, and I don't believe it's entirely one of translation, is that there is little narrative throughout the book. It's a big book full of facts. Quite often, this reader got so bogged down in how many hectares Qahira covered as opposed to Fustat, or how many suqs were built in a given decade, that I lost track of where I was in the book. The only good narrative begins at the section where Maqrizi's era starts. But it doesn't hold out. I just sort of trudged on, feeling I wanted to finish, but without any joy in the reading or the discovery. It's too bad because Al Qahira is one of the world's great cities and a fascinating topic. I wish Raymond had gotten someone to ghost write.