Egypt After Nasser: Sadat, Peace, and the Mirage of Prosperity [Hardcover]

Thomas W. Lippman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lippman describes how Anwar Sadat repudiated the legacy of his predecessor, Gamal Abdel Nasser, restored Egyptian self-esteem after the Six-Day War by his successful attack across the Suez Canal in the 1973 Yom Kippur War and established an international reputation as a stateman with his peacemaking trip to Jerusalem in 1978. The euphoria turned sour, however, as Sadat initiated a one-man rule "disguised as a manifestation of popular will" that culminated in a series of laws limiting political opposition and led to a confrontation with Muslim activists and Sadat's assassination in 1981. Lippman, former Cairo bureau chief for the Washington Post , takes a close and not very flattering look at Egypt today; its Rube Goldberg economy, the Malthusian nightmare that is Cairo and its increasing dependence on U.S. assistance. He characterizes the current leader, Hosni Mubarak, as apparently incorruptible but not a systematic thinker or visionary.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Lippman reveals a country where the economy has completely broken down. Nothing works, neither telephones, rent control, nor buses. Nor do some of the peoplecivil servants are singled out. Nasser, who ousted the king, failed miserably in his promises, lost a war with Israel, and took Egypt into the Russian fold, is still a great hero, while Sadat, who chastised Israel, and brought massive U.S. aid, is literally unmourned. The economic miracle, so needed, eluded Sadat; the oil crisis could have saved him. Lippman does not leave us with much hope that the practical, patient Mubarek can bring it about now. Although well done, the book gives the Western view of Sadat. Libraries might do well to buy Mohamed Heikal's Autumn of Fury ( LJ 10/1/83) for balance. Louise Leonard, Univ. of Florida Lib., Gainesville
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 275 pages
• Publisher: Paragon House; 1st edition (January 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557780412
• ISBN-13: 978-1557780416
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,765,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas W. Lippman is a Washington-based author and journalist who has specialized in Middle Eastern affairs and American foreign policy for more than three decades, and is an experienced analyst of Saudi Arabian affairs, U.S.- Saudi relations, and relations between the West and Islam. He is a former Middle East bureau chief of the Washington Post, and also served as that newspaper's oil and energy reporter. Throughout the 1990s, he covered foreign policy and national security for the Post, traveling frequently to Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East. As an independent writer, he has visited Saudi Arabia every year but one in the past decade.

Lippman is the author of numerous magazine articles, book reviews and op-ed columns about Mideast affairs, and of five books: Understanding Islam (1982, 3d revised edition 2002); Egypt After Nasser (1989); Madeleine Albright and the New American Diplomacy (2000); Inside the Mirage: America's Fragile Partnership with Saudi Arabia (2004) , and Arabian Knight: Colonel Bill Eddy USMC and the Rise of American Power in the Middle East, honored as the best biography of 2008 by the Independent Publishers Association. He is also the author of the essay on Saudi Arabia's defense strategy and nuclear weapons policy published in 2004 by the Brookings Institution Press in The Nuclear Tipping Point, a book on global nuclear proliferation. His latest book, Saudi Arabia on the Edge, was published in January 2012.

A frequent television and radio commentator on Mideast developments, Lippman has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, the BBC, CNBC, ABC and Fox News, and on radio stations in New York, Boston, Phoenix and San Francisco, as well as on television stations overseas. Several of his lectures on Saudi Arabia have been televised nationally by C-SPAN. He has also been a consultant on Middle East affairs to several U.S. government agencies, including the Air Force.

He is currently an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, where he serves as the principal media contact on Saudi Arabia and U.S. - Saudi relations. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was formerly an adjunct senior fellow there.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Shows a harrowing yet realistic picture of modern Egypt, July 9, 2006

By 

Daniel Samwel (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Egypt After Nasser: Sadat, Peace, and the Mirage of Prosperity (Hardcover)

This book shows modern day Egypt in a disturbingly realistic way as country on its knees, ready to succumb to the problems of overcrowding and a dying economy, which will eventually lead to the horrors of mass hunger and extreme poverty. It does so by showing how President Nasser killed the Egyptian economy through gross mismanagement, how President Sadat wasted many opportunities to revive it, and how President Mubarak is now powerless to do anything about it.

This book was a very interesting read and revealed perspectives on modern Egyptian history that was quite refreshing. I'd definitely recommend this book to anybody who is interested in modern Egyptian history.