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The Egyptians
From award-winning journalist Jack Shenker, The Egyptians is the essential book about Egypt and radical politics
'This is the deepest and most comprehensive account of Egypt's revolution in the English language, and it will set the agenda for debate throughout the Arab world' Paul Mason, author of PostCapitalism
Egypt is a nation in turmoil, caught in a cycle of revolution and counter-revolution. In The Egyptians: A Radical Story, Jack Shenker uncovers the historical roots of today's unrest and reveals a land divided between two irreconcilable political orders: authoritarian power and grassroots resistance. Challenging conventional analyses that focus only on the battle between Islamists and secular forces, he travels the Arab World's most populous country to explore other, far more important fault lines - the communities waging war against transnational corporations, the people subverting long-established gender norms, the workers seizing control of their factories, and the novelists, graffiti artists and back-alley DJs defying their repressive regime.
Showing that the revolution was no isolated episode but rather part of an ongoing struggle against state authority and economic exclusion, Shenker explains why recent events are so threatening to elites both inside Egypt and abroad. While Egyptian rulers seek to eliminate dissent, seeded within the politics of the young generation are forms of democracy, social justice and resistance that could yet change the world.
'A courageous writer who gives voice to the hopes and fears of the people of Egypt' Owen Jones
'Inspirational, passionate, acutely clear-sighted ... it tells stories that need to be told, and which have been widely ignored' George Arney, Independent
'An impassioned account of a "radical Egypt" waging battle against a power-hoarding state ... Shenker has written what amounts to a contemporary history of injustice' Maria Golia, The Times Literary Supplement
'Carefully researched and passionately argued ... The Egyptians is not just about the revolution, it is an act within it' Ahdaf Soueif, Guardian
'This is the deepest and most comprehensive account of Egypt's revolution in the English language, and it will set the agenda for debate throughout the Arab world' Paul Mason, author of PostCapitalism
Egypt is a nation in turmoil, caught in a cycle of revolution and counter-revolution. In The Egyptians: A Radical Story, Jack Shenker uncovers the historical roots of today's unrest and reveals a land divided between two irreconcilable political orders: authoritarian power and grassroots resistance. Challenging conventional analyses that focus only on the battle between Islamists and secular forces, he travels the Arab World's most populous country to explore other, far more important fault lines - the communities waging war against transnational corporations, the people subverting long-established gender norms, the workers seizing control of their factories, and the novelists, graffiti artists and back-alley DJs defying their repressive regime.
Showing that the revolution was no isolated episode but rather part of an ongoing struggle against state authority and economic exclusion, Shenker explains why recent events are so threatening to elites both inside Egypt and abroad. While Egyptian rulers seek to eliminate dissent, seeded within the politics of the young generation are forms of democracy, social justice and resistance that could yet change the world.
'A courageous writer who gives voice to the hopes and fears of the people of Egypt' Owen Jones
'Inspirational, passionate, acutely clear-sighted ... it tells stories that need to be told, and which have been widely ignored' George Arney, Independent
'An impassioned account of a "radical Egypt" waging battle against a power-hoarding state ... Shenker has written what amounts to a contemporary history of injustice' Maria Golia, The Times Literary Supplement
'Carefully researched and passionately argued ... The Egyptians is not just about the revolution, it is an act within it' Ahdaf Soueif, Guardian
528 pages, Paperback
First published February 23, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 29, 2018
The Egyptians: A Radical History of Egypt's Unfinished Revolution by Jack Shenker is a book chronicling the growth of radicalized protest against authoritarianism in Egypt. The book examines these protests and movements through a Socialist lens, looking at the growth and empowerment of various actors against the predatory national government and their neoliberal and Western supporters. The growth of protest and mass movements against authoritarian regimes - from the time of the overthrow of the last King of Egypt - King Farouk, into the Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak regimes, all of which ended either in overthrow, coup or assassination. Egypt continues its trend of authoritarian rulers to this day, under the tutelage of President el-Sisi.
Egypt captured the worlds imagination during its 2011 "Arab Spring" (a term the author dislikes) movements across the Middle East to overthrow entrenched regimes in the region. Although the West has portrayed these movements as a natural growth toward neoliberalism and democracy across the region, but the reality was starkly different, and most regimes were not replaced by democratic systems aligned to the West, but maintained or transferred power to different actors (or failed), except in Tunisia. In Egypt, many hundreds of protesters were killed in street battles with the police and military, but eventually succeeded in removing President Mubarak from power.
Shenker has chronicled the history of these movements, examining them from the point of view of the poor, workers, women and other disenfranchised peoples. He utilizes interviews with locals from his extensive time living in Egypt, as well as first hand accounts of protests, riots and counter movements by the State. Such examples include an examination of the urban sprawl in Cairo, which is largely undocumented and unmapped. This sprawl is a constant thorn in the side of the State due to its inability to be mapped, controlled or penetrated by state authorities, and its propensity to encourage and enlarge mass protest due to its close knit communities, and closeness to the streets. State actors under Sadat and Mubarak tried to move the elite of Cairo outside the city limits and into new compounds in the desert, complete with armed guards, class based exclusionary policies, and disdain for local and impoverished citizens. Another example is the growth of labour power in Egypt, once strong under Nasser's Socialistic authoritarianism, but weakened heavily by neoliberal policies enacted by Sadat and Mubarak. These policies included the destruction and harassment of unionized workers, the implementation of contracts to control labour, and the contraction of public jobs, national wages, and policies directed at working conditions. The state instead empowered the elite - landowners, business owners and foreign investors as well as the political elite. These actors utilized the arms of the state, including the police, military and bureaucracy to restrict citizens rights, squeeze out unwanted elements of society, and enrich themselves.
The book is much of the same - looking at one aspect of growing revolutionary principles in Egypt, briefly going over the history of the movement, and then using anecdotal stories, interviews and so on to support the topic. This was often quite interesting, as the reader can examine the personal, on the ground aspects of the revolution in Egypt and ponder the situation as it is on the ground, and in the hearts and minds of Egypt's population. Even so, the layout of this book felt overly long, and the abundance of interviews, although interesting, did not add much to each topic individually. I have absolutely no qualms with longer books, but I do expect the content to justify the length, and I felt this was not the case with Shenker's book. Another issue I had was the overly journalistic tone of the book. This is a pet peeve of mine in some modern political books. Although reading first hand accounts and interviews are interesting, these sources are often flawed (from lack of memory or personal embellishment), biased, and difficult to prove or even cite in the book. This leads to a lack of credibility throughout the book, marring what could have been interesting and well sourced topics. This was a common issue throughout the book, and although it affected my overall enjoyment of the book, it is a personal pet peeve and the style fits the mold of other similar political books on the market. In my opinion though, it lacked depth.
All in all, this was a mixed bag for me. Although this book is interesting and topical, it also suffers from flaws in its sourcing, journalistic tone, and length/content ratio. This book is a good read for those looking for something topical on Egypt, a nation largely coveted by Western nations, but little understood outside of its well studied ancient history. It is a nation that has suffered particularly harshly under the yoke of failed neoliberal development policies, and continues to be an important local actor in the restive Middle East. Shenker has looked at Egypt from a side most do not - from the street level. With the people marching to topple dictators, to the neighbours fighting to protect there homes from being demolished, to the workers living and working in poor conditions for little remuneration, this is an interesting and little heeded perspective. I can certainly recommend this book to those interested in the topics above, and those looking for a more radical examination of Egypt's internal strife and development.
Egypt captured the worlds imagination during its 2011 "Arab Spring" (a term the author dislikes) movements across the Middle East to overthrow entrenched regimes in the region. Although the West has portrayed these movements as a natural growth toward neoliberalism and democracy across the region, but the reality was starkly different, and most regimes were not replaced by democratic systems aligned to the West, but maintained or transferred power to different actors (or failed), except in Tunisia. In Egypt, many hundreds of protesters were killed in street battles with the police and military, but eventually succeeded in removing President Mubarak from power.
Shenker has chronicled the history of these movements, examining them from the point of view of the poor, workers, women and other disenfranchised peoples. He utilizes interviews with locals from his extensive time living in Egypt, as well as first hand accounts of protests, riots and counter movements by the State. Such examples include an examination of the urban sprawl in Cairo, which is largely undocumented and unmapped. This sprawl is a constant thorn in the side of the State due to its inability to be mapped, controlled or penetrated by state authorities, and its propensity to encourage and enlarge mass protest due to its close knit communities, and closeness to the streets. State actors under Sadat and Mubarak tried to move the elite of Cairo outside the city limits and into new compounds in the desert, complete with armed guards, class based exclusionary policies, and disdain for local and impoverished citizens. Another example is the growth of labour power in Egypt, once strong under Nasser's Socialistic authoritarianism, but weakened heavily by neoliberal policies enacted by Sadat and Mubarak. These policies included the destruction and harassment of unionized workers, the implementation of contracts to control labour, and the contraction of public jobs, national wages, and policies directed at working conditions. The state instead empowered the elite - landowners, business owners and foreign investors as well as the political elite. These actors utilized the arms of the state, including the police, military and bureaucracy to restrict citizens rights, squeeze out unwanted elements of society, and enrich themselves.
The book is much of the same - looking at one aspect of growing revolutionary principles in Egypt, briefly going over the history of the movement, and then using anecdotal stories, interviews and so on to support the topic. This was often quite interesting, as the reader can examine the personal, on the ground aspects of the revolution in Egypt and ponder the situation as it is on the ground, and in the hearts and minds of Egypt's population. Even so, the layout of this book felt overly long, and the abundance of interviews, although interesting, did not add much to each topic individually. I have absolutely no qualms with longer books, but I do expect the content to justify the length, and I felt this was not the case with Shenker's book. Another issue I had was the overly journalistic tone of the book. This is a pet peeve of mine in some modern political books. Although reading first hand accounts and interviews are interesting, these sources are often flawed (from lack of memory or personal embellishment), biased, and difficult to prove or even cite in the book. This leads to a lack of credibility throughout the book, marring what could have been interesting and well sourced topics. This was a common issue throughout the book, and although it affected my overall enjoyment of the book, it is a personal pet peeve and the style fits the mold of other similar political books on the market. In my opinion though, it lacked depth.
All in all, this was a mixed bag for me. Although this book is interesting and topical, it also suffers from flaws in its sourcing, journalistic tone, and length/content ratio. This book is a good read for those looking for something topical on Egypt, a nation largely coveted by Western nations, but little understood outside of its well studied ancient history. It is a nation that has suffered particularly harshly under the yoke of failed neoliberal development policies, and continues to be an important local actor in the restive Middle East. Shenker has looked at Egypt from a side most do not - from the street level. With the people marching to topple dictators, to the neighbours fighting to protect there homes from being demolished, to the workers living and working in poor conditions for little remuneration, this is an interesting and little heeded perspective. I can certainly recommend this book to those interested in the topics above, and those looking for a more radical examination of Egypt's internal strife and development.
June 12, 2020
In The Egyptians, author Jack Shenker, a British journalist who lived in Cairo from 2008-2016, attempts to explain the history behind Egypt’s 2011 revolution and why this revolution has been left unfinished. Shenker makes his bias clear stating early on, that he sides with the protesters, workers, and activists who called for Mubarak to step down in 2011. While it is admirable for Shenker to admit his blind spot for Egypt’s ‘revolutionaries’, his inability or unwillingness to approach his heroes through a critical lens gives The Egyptians the feel of hagiography rather than balanced history.
In Shenker’s view the Egyptian revolution is part of a larger contest between the political and economic elites and the masses that they exploit. Shenker is highly critical of the neo-liberal economic thought and how those policies have been enacted in Egypt at the behest of the World Bank and the IMF. Former Egyptian presidents Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak are the chief villains for enacting structural adjustment policies that benefitted wealthy business magnates and the military and using the security apparatus to suppress resistance. Coincidentally, Shenker treats Gamal Abdel Nasser more kindly seeing him as a president who tried to lift Egyptians out of poverty and largely ignoring his role in building a police state and needlessly going to war with Israel.
The Egyptians is at its best when it is shining a light on the socio-economic cleavages that divide Egypt and how corruption, greed, and an overreliance on the security-state have hindered Egypt’s development. I found his focus on how upper-class Egyptians have largely walled themselves off from the middle and lower classes by moving to settlements out in the desert particularly fascinating. He paints an Egypt where many in the upper-class see the lower classes as lawless, superstitious, and ungovernable. This is how they rationalize the government’s brutality toward its own citizenry. Using interviews, anecdotes, and in-depth press reporting Shenker explains how the Egyptian government has failed the majority of its citizens.
Where Shenker fails is in his glorification of the events of January and February 2011, or the eighteen days, as he calls them. He does not adequately look into the cleavages within Egypt’s protest movement or the many competing motivations that led Egyptians into the streets to begin with. He idealizes activists, labor rights organizers, community organizers, and Islamists who all played a role in removing Mubarak from power but all had different goals from the outset. In his own mind, he weaves together twenty years of labor-rights movements throughout Egypt seeing them all united in one purpose that seemed to culminate in the eighteen days. However he ignores, that so many of these struggles were local and most of the participants did not see themselves as doing anything more than improving their own position. Mubarak and Egypt’s elite were able to maintain relative stability because they were always only having to frame and address local grievances and then they could move to the next crisis. Similarly, Sisi has been able to manage Egypt in a similar manner with a bit more brutality than his predecessors. As long as this remains the case, Egypt’s revolution will remain unfinished.
In Shenker’s view the Egyptian revolution is part of a larger contest between the political and economic elites and the masses that they exploit. Shenker is highly critical of the neo-liberal economic thought and how those policies have been enacted in Egypt at the behest of the World Bank and the IMF. Former Egyptian presidents Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak are the chief villains for enacting structural adjustment policies that benefitted wealthy business magnates and the military and using the security apparatus to suppress resistance. Coincidentally, Shenker treats Gamal Abdel Nasser more kindly seeing him as a president who tried to lift Egyptians out of poverty and largely ignoring his role in building a police state and needlessly going to war with Israel.
The Egyptians is at its best when it is shining a light on the socio-economic cleavages that divide Egypt and how corruption, greed, and an overreliance on the security-state have hindered Egypt’s development. I found his focus on how upper-class Egyptians have largely walled themselves off from the middle and lower classes by moving to settlements out in the desert particularly fascinating. He paints an Egypt where many in the upper-class see the lower classes as lawless, superstitious, and ungovernable. This is how they rationalize the government’s brutality toward its own citizenry. Using interviews, anecdotes, and in-depth press reporting Shenker explains how the Egyptian government has failed the majority of its citizens.
Where Shenker fails is in his glorification of the events of January and February 2011, or the eighteen days, as he calls them. He does not adequately look into the cleavages within Egypt’s protest movement or the many competing motivations that led Egyptians into the streets to begin with. He idealizes activists, labor rights organizers, community organizers, and Islamists who all played a role in removing Mubarak from power but all had different goals from the outset. In his own mind, he weaves together twenty years of labor-rights movements throughout Egypt seeing them all united in one purpose that seemed to culminate in the eighteen days. However he ignores, that so many of these struggles were local and most of the participants did not see themselves as doing anything more than improving their own position. Mubarak and Egypt’s elite were able to maintain relative stability because they were always only having to frame and address local grievances and then they could move to the next crisis. Similarly, Sisi has been able to manage Egypt in a similar manner with a bit more brutality than his predecessors. As long as this remains the case, Egypt’s revolution will remain unfinished.
April 17, 2019
honered to translate this epical valuable book. to be issued soon by Kotob Khan
October 28, 2020
Again I am pleased I read this within the sequence that I did. I have recently read George Monbiot's The Age of Consent and Shenker's book seemed a history and a lived experience of the ideas in Monbiot's book with a focus on Egypt. I knew next to nothing about the modern history of Egypt and so this book gave me a huge amount of information and context about modern Egypt including surprising me with its description of Egypt's topography which I think I had naively assumed was entirely desert. The author's affection for the country and its people shines through in every page and the real strength of this book is that he lived through an incredible period in their history and has personal accounts to add to the copious research. The stories are at times incredible and I found myself inwardly urging on protestors and farmers as they fought the various arms of the Egyptian state. The one aspect in which I found the book slightly lacking was any attempt to outline the popularity of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. I was undecided on whether this was a deliberate decision by the author displaying his lack of interest in the individual as opposed to his focus on the structures of the state or whether it was just his personal animosity towards the man himself.
March 28, 2017
Nice focus on economic issues driving the uprising - too many media outlets focused on politics and religion. Way too long with repetitive details, not much on the revolution itself. And to blame everything on neoliberalism is too simplistic - what about corruption? Crony capitalism? Horrible inefficiencies? The fact the protestors knew what they didn't want but not what they did. The book was poorly organized - jumping back and forth too much in time. Nice explanation for Morsi giving in to the State to gain his own power and that of the Brothers, but what about all the opponents? All the protestors weren't out there just because the State apparatus didn't change enough; they didn't like his rule! To posit they were only against him because he sold out makes all Egyptians sound like socialist advocates and organized labor but doesn't take into account religion, culture, and a history of poor governance!
Many details were just tacked on. I felt a NY Times article about jailing opponents said more in an article than this 450+ page book!
Many details were just tacked on. I felt a NY Times article about jailing opponents said more in an article than this 450+ page book!
July 16, 2017
I don't normally write reviews and I am aware that I will not be able to do this book justice but this book is not only one of the best books I read in a long time, it also holds so much interesting information for just about anyone.
I have read many books on the Egyptian revolution and although this book talks only briefly about what happened during the 18 days, it is by far the one that explains best how it came to be and what has been happening in Egypt since.
Additionally, it is a must read for anyone who wants to inform themselves on how the capitalist system is used and abused in a non-western state.
Every page is worth reading with full attention. I had a hard time putting this book down to go back to daily life.
I have read many books on the Egyptian revolution and although this book talks only briefly about what happened during the 18 days, it is by far the one that explains best how it came to be and what has been happening in Egypt since.
Additionally, it is a must read for anyone who wants to inform themselves on how the capitalist system is used and abused in a non-western state.
Every page is worth reading with full attention. I had a hard time putting this book down to go back to daily life.
August 16, 2024
Inspiring account of the Egyptians who overthrew Hosni Mubarak and stayed defiant even when the military eventually regained power.
March 3, 2016
This is a great book in that it takes an event "the Arab Spring", which he takes to be a lazy catch-all term, and he explains currents and policies before and after. The key thing is that he uses real people, the real stories of what happened to people caught up either actively or passive in the changes in Egypt. Memorable, illuminating and well written to engage the reader.
June 25, 2016
Fantastic book. A must read for anyone wanting to understand the root causes of why the uprising in Egypt came about.. with counter-revolutionary tactics until 2015. A must read.
May 19, 2017
Surprisingly good and full of intersecting facts. I would've enjoyed it with fewer pages, way too many random in depth interviews/stories, which also made the book unbalanced at times.
January 14, 2024
This is how a revolutionary process should be written.
It is not a dry academic read. It is a deeply personal book, in the sense that it gives voice and life to the people of Egypt. It made me rage, cry and cheer.
But being personal does not mean not being serious. Jack is able to masterfully interweave the lived experience of Egyptian people's struggle, a struggle that he himself is part, with rare journalistic research and insight into the systematic processes of capitalism and the specific context of Egypt, linking it to the continuous process of struggle and the historic traditions of the Egyptian working-class and oppressed against capitalism in all its facets, including the fight against patriarchy, racism and sectarianism.
I do have some disagreements on how Jack compares the "18 days", with the so called "horizontal movements" in Southern Europe in the 2010s- I think the Egyptian revolution was much more profound and at the same time put the shortcomings of not having a clear and consequent revolutionary organisation in focus-the difference is literally life and death.
That being said, Jack's book is a work of hope, it counteracts the trite and often racist "analysis" of commentators. Even 8 years after publication, it shows that the revolution, brutally repressed by the elites, it still very much alive and will rise again.
It is not a dry academic read. It is a deeply personal book, in the sense that it gives voice and life to the people of Egypt. It made me rage, cry and cheer.
But being personal does not mean not being serious. Jack is able to masterfully interweave the lived experience of Egyptian people's struggle, a struggle that he himself is part, with rare journalistic research and insight into the systematic processes of capitalism and the specific context of Egypt, linking it to the continuous process of struggle and the historic traditions of the Egyptian working-class and oppressed against capitalism in all its facets, including the fight against patriarchy, racism and sectarianism.
I do have some disagreements on how Jack compares the "18 days", with the so called "horizontal movements" in Southern Europe in the 2010s- I think the Egyptian revolution was much more profound and at the same time put the shortcomings of not having a clear and consequent revolutionary organisation in focus-the difference is literally life and death.
That being said, Jack's book is a work of hope, it counteracts the trite and often racist "analysis" of commentators. Even 8 years after publication, it shows that the revolution, brutally repressed by the elites, it still very much alive and will rise again.
June 7, 2017
In writing about a conflict that has often been overly simplified by those seeking to retain power, Shenker does a masterful job presenting the revolution through a wide variety of lenses. He considers the Egyptian Revolution in the broader context of economic unrest, the development of organized labor, the subjugation of women and the LGBT in Egyptian society, as well as the complicity of foreign governments and multinational corporations who stand to benefit from the status quo. Shenker examines the revolution through the lenses of individuals' heartbreaking yet uplifting stories, as well as the organization of mass political and cultural movements. He depicts the Revolution in all its complexity, through a work that is simultaneously brutal, compassionate, and inspiring.
June 14, 2022
A brilliant depiction of Egypt in revolution, which argues that the revolution must be understood in the context of a much longer period where the Egyptian state has imposed neoliberal attacks on the ordinary people of Egypt. These attacks, and the resistance they inspired, formed the base for the revolution, but the counter-revolution is marked by the continuity of policy with Mubarak era Egypt. The stories from the revolution, including Shenker's own experiences, are often inspiring - but never rose tinted. Shenker's style is readable and he lets ordinary Egyptians speak through his pages. The people demanded the fall of the regime in 2011 - but someday the Egyptians will rise again.
July 7, 2024
Although this is marketed as a book, in reality this is just a very VERY long article. Starts with a good economic analysis of Egypt's affairs. This is followed by a HUGE ramble that says nothing for pages on end. Wouldn't recommend.
February 24, 2017
If you think you understood the dynamics of Egyptian Revolution & Arab Spring, you need to read this book.
If you think Egypt is a better country or conversely shot itself in the foot due to revolution, you need to read this book.
If you think Egypt's deposition of their long-standing leader who brought structured political hierarchy in their country was the worst mistake the Egyptians could make, you need to read this book.
If you think the democracy brought in Egypt through Morsi was good/bad/step in the right direction or have a feeling that Sisi's rise is the revolution coming full circle, you need to read this book.
Above all, if you know nothing about Egypt's revolution of 2011, you definitely need to read this book.
Shenker is a Guardian correspondent in Egypt and has reported through the wide & disperse Egypt for many years. He was in the heart of Tahrir square when it all took place and through this book he is telling us all that we ignored Egpyt and her past mini-revolutions taking place between the 90s & 2000s.
Egypt's revolution took place when the Egyptian Bedouin's protested their right to ancestral land. It happened when the young girls rejected the patriarchal nature of their society. It was also revolution when factory workers protested the demeaning working conditions & wages. The revolution was still strong when the poor localities were demolished to give way to new residential enclaves. The revolution happened, when under a neo-liberal agenda, the state privatised gold mine companies at a rate far lower than their actual value. The revolution kept on when the female protestors were arrested, sexually & physically harassed and they broadcasted their trauma for everyone to understand what being an active female in Egypt is. It gained its strength from the incarcerated poets/writers/artists/activitists.
Jack Shenker is enlightening us on how this revolution has often been hijacked by the same state actors who flourished in Mubarak's rule, aligned themselves with the Brotherhood and are now eating their fruit under General Sisi. But Sisi's Egypt is different than Mubarak's Egypt. This Egypt is a wide awake Egypt and is continuously challenging the status-quo thus giving hope to us all.
It is often argued that an Egypt not under a strong autocratic leadership might create room in the society for Islamists. Shenker has only briefly touched on this and to be honest not much has been offered to debunk this myth.
This book was in The Economist's best books of 2016 as well (http://www.economist.com/news/books-a...).
PS. I understand that it is a charged up review because the nature of Jack Shenker's portrayal of Egypt is such that you cannot just look away and have to take the side of people of Egypt against everything else they are going through.
If you think Egypt is a better country or conversely shot itself in the foot due to revolution, you need to read this book.
If you think Egypt's deposition of their long-standing leader who brought structured political hierarchy in their country was the worst mistake the Egyptians could make, you need to read this book.
If you think the democracy brought in Egypt through Morsi was good/bad/step in the right direction or have a feeling that Sisi's rise is the revolution coming full circle, you need to read this book.
Above all, if you know nothing about Egypt's revolution of 2011, you definitely need to read this book.
Shenker is a Guardian correspondent in Egypt and has reported through the wide & disperse Egypt for many years. He was in the heart of Tahrir square when it all took place and through this book he is telling us all that we ignored Egpyt and her past mini-revolutions taking place between the 90s & 2000s.
Egypt's revolution took place when the Egyptian Bedouin's protested their right to ancestral land. It happened when the young girls rejected the patriarchal nature of their society. It was also revolution when factory workers protested the demeaning working conditions & wages. The revolution was still strong when the poor localities were demolished to give way to new residential enclaves. The revolution happened, when under a neo-liberal agenda, the state privatised gold mine companies at a rate far lower than their actual value. The revolution kept on when the female protestors were arrested, sexually & physically harassed and they broadcasted their trauma for everyone to understand what being an active female in Egypt is. It gained its strength from the incarcerated poets/writers/artists/activitists.
Jack Shenker is enlightening us on how this revolution has often been hijacked by the same state actors who flourished in Mubarak's rule, aligned themselves with the Brotherhood and are now eating their fruit under General Sisi. But Sisi's Egypt is different than Mubarak's Egypt. This Egypt is a wide awake Egypt and is continuously challenging the status-quo thus giving hope to us all.
It is often argued that an Egypt not under a strong autocratic leadership might create room in the society for Islamists. Shenker has only briefly touched on this and to be honest not much has been offered to debunk this myth.
This book was in The Economist's best books of 2016 as well (http://www.economist.com/news/books-a...).
PS. I understand that it is a charged up review because the nature of Jack Shenker's portrayal of Egypt is such that you cannot just look away and have to take the side of people of Egypt against everything else they are going through.
February 16, 2017
Omitted truth equals alternative facts
Wasted my money, thought I was going to get a history of modern egypt that would reveal some of the current problems, but what I got was a very twisted alternative history with omissions so large it was impossible to accept as anything but propaganda that white washes the soviet involvement in egypt and totally negates the islamic brotherhood influence on the country's history plus totally skipping any mention of the islamic influence. Everything is simplified to blame globalization and capitalism the only evil in the world.
If you like to base history on anecdotal stories and hearsay this is the book if you like reading propaganda this also is the book. I prefer a balanced history where many create a reality not a single sided tale to make all one simplistic answer.
Wasted my money, thought I was going to get a history of modern egypt that would reveal some of the current problems, but what I got was a very twisted alternative history with omissions so large it was impossible to accept as anything but propaganda that white washes the soviet involvement in egypt and totally negates the islamic brotherhood influence on the country's history plus totally skipping any mention of the islamic influence. Everything is simplified to blame globalization and capitalism the only evil in the world.
If you like to base history on anecdotal stories and hearsay this is the book if you like reading propaganda this also is the book. I prefer a balanced history where many create a reality not a single sided tale to make all one simplistic answer.
February 10, 2017
A thorough and well-considered, if too optimistic for my taste, take on contemporary Egypt. 8/10
March 3, 2016
Whilst Egypt has long been portrayed as politically stagnant, with the arrival of the Arab Spring coming as a surprise to many, in The Egyptians, Jack Shenker cleverly tears down that myth by tracing fault lines right back to the 1880's.
In perhaps the most descriptive book yet on the Egyptian revolution that stunned the world, Shenker covers the Nasserite, Sadat and Mubarak eras in terms of global economy and sheds light in a way not done before, highlighting the tensions that have long been erupting all over Egypt.
A most intriguing read, if woefully tying in with the Cairene elite rhetoric, in which despite attempts to whitewash both coup and massacre support, he refuses to afford the same to Islamists, treating them as another anti-revolutionary bloc. For those hoping for an unbiased narrative, this unfortunately falls short - and yet it is still a worthy and illuminating read.
In perhaps the most descriptive book yet on the Egyptian revolution that stunned the world, Shenker covers the Nasserite, Sadat and Mubarak eras in terms of global economy and sheds light in a way not done before, highlighting the tensions that have long been erupting all over Egypt.
A most intriguing read, if woefully tying in with the Cairene elite rhetoric, in which despite attempts to whitewash both coup and massacre support, he refuses to afford the same to Islamists, treating them as another anti-revolutionary bloc. For those hoping for an unbiased narrative, this unfortunately falls short - and yet it is still a worthy and illuminating read.
February 7, 2017
An absolute must read. An engagingly written book that takes in much more than January 25th 2011 and the subsequent years. Shenker shows (along with some gripping first hand accounts) how the Revolution was the culmination of decades of opposition to the Egyptian state, and how the forces of neoliberalism bear down upon this.
February 6, 2017
Best political commentary on Egyptian revolution.
December 24, 2016
A brilliant portrait of Egypt during the twilight years of the Mubarak regime, the 2011 Revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood and now the return of the military under General Sisi. Jack Shenker is the best kind of young foreign correspondent, who gets down among the people and uses individual stories, often harrowing, to illustrate a wider canvas. It's a big book in every sense, but well worth studying carefully if one wnats to understand what has been happening in the Arab world's largest state.
April 5, 2017
The Egyptians: A Radical Story is a story of human spirit and resistance in the face of an oppressive regime. Jack Shenker masterfully weaves together the stories of those he's interviewed to provide a riveting account of the process leading to the revolution and its aftermath. His grasp of the process leading to Sisi’s leadership is impressive and beyond most accounts in Western media. Shenker goes beyond Tahrir Square to relate stories like striking factory workers and Bedouin resistance and the collective impact these smaller events have had on loosening the regime's grip.
Unfortunately, Shenker’s hatred of neoliberalism is overbearing. Some reforms pushed by the IMF have made Egyptians worse off, but Shenker blames these institutions and corporations for all of Egypt's economic woes. He also conflates the market economy with neoliberalism. As an example, he compares the British (a social democracy) and Egyptian (a crony capitalist autocracy) governments saying “like all neoliberal states, both are well-versed in the art of barbarization”.
That criticism aside, the human touch Shenker brings to issues ranging from Egypt’s infantilism of women to the post-revolution graffiti scene make this a recommended read for anyone interested in Egypt’s struggles.
Unfortunately, Shenker’s hatred of neoliberalism is overbearing. Some reforms pushed by the IMF have made Egyptians worse off, but Shenker blames these institutions and corporations for all of Egypt's economic woes. He also conflates the market economy with neoliberalism. As an example, he compares the British (a social democracy) and Egyptian (a crony capitalist autocracy) governments saying “like all neoliberal states, both are well-versed in the art of barbarization”.
That criticism aside, the human touch Shenker brings to issues ranging from Egypt’s infantilism of women to the post-revolution graffiti scene make this a recommended read for anyone interested in Egypt’s struggles.
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