A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present

by Jason Thompson

This cohesive account of Egypt’s millennia-long past offers readers a sure guide through the corridors of Egypt’s past, from the mysterious predynastic kingdoms to the nation-state of the twenty-first century. The author addresses central issues such as how Egyptian history can be treated as a whole and how the west has shaped prevailing images of it, both through direct contact and through the lens of western scholarship. Drawing on current historical scholarship and his own research, Jason Thompson has written a remarkable work of synthesis and concision, offering students, travelers, and general readers alike an engaging one-volume narrative of the extraordinarily long course of human history by the Nile.

This updated paperback edition contains new material on the 25 January Revolution, the rise and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the new era of President Sisi.

Genres: History, Egypt, Nonfiction, Africa, Egyptology

440 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2008

Reviews

[Randall Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Northeastern Africa, before it became the Sahara Desert, was “wooded uplands, lush grassy plains, brimming with streams, and numerous lakes, abundant in flora and fauna for food gathering people”. Egypt’s earliest Neolithic site is Nabta Playa, dated from at least 6000 BC. That culture collapsed around 3350 BC. The First Dynasty moved to Memphis southwest of modern-day Cairo. Memphis was the administrative center for 2,500 years. During the first Dynasty, human sacrifice for rulers was still a thing – Dynasty as Die Nasty. Servants and even dogs were strangled (to leave the body intact) to death to placate their ruler’s wishes (and narcissism). Egypt already had papyrus then.

Then came the Old Kingdom which traded with Lebanon while Egypt still had no ports. Kings were called the pharaoh, meaning “big house” and later meaning the king himself. He was considered a god and could thus easily assemble lots of workers for crazy big projects. The highest office under him was the vizier. Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphs (never say hieroglyphics) on papyrus and walls. The falcon was the symbol for the god Horus. Thoth was an ibis. Old Kingdom Egyptians were big believers in an eternal afterlife and so the largest industry became monuments to the dead. Khufu had the famed largest pyramid at Giza built in the Fourth Dynasty. To build that pyramid during Khufu’s life would have meant putting one stone in place “every two to three minutes of the working day.” Those Giza stones weighed an average of two and a half tons each. After Khufu’s pyramid, pyramids became progressively smaller.

After a period of upheaval next came the Middle Kingdom. The population went from under 200,000 to as high as 4.5 million. Most worked the land in the countryside. The Middle Kingdom fell apart politically starting the Second Intermediate Period (c.1640-1550 BC when the Hyksos ruled) followed by the New Kingdom. The Hyksos introduced better looms, potter’s wheels and metalworking. Amun and Ra amalgamated forming Amun-Ra (see Indiana Jones) and the Karnak and Luxor Temples appeared. Nefertiti was the wife of Akhenaten; her famed bust is now in Berlin’s Egyptian Museum. Tutankhaten (c. 1336-1327 BC) died as a teenager, well before banjo bard Steve Martin wrote a song about him. The discovery of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922 was a huge deal because most Egyptian tombs were long before plundered. Ramesses II (c. 1279-1213 BC) built Abu Simbel in Nubia with its famed four colossal seated statues. Then came the Third Intermediate Period which lasted 360 years; many tombs were robbed during the turmoil of the Third Intermediate Period.

Nubian rule was followed by Assyrian rule, which was followed by Persian rule. Egypt created its first navy under Necho II (610-595 BC). Egyptians didn’t like Persian rule and thus welcomed Alexander the Great when he invaded in 332 BC. He creates Alexandria as a Greek port, and then leaves to conquer the Persian Empire. Alexander the Great dies, leaving a vacuum, and so one of his pals takes over Egypt becoming Ptolemy I, starting the Ptolemaic Period. He kind of rules the Eastern Mediterranean and under him there is a long period of peace. Alexandria becomes the greatest city in the Eastern Mediterranean and “the undisputed center of Greek culture.” There a causeway is built out the Pharos Island where the famed Pharos Lighthouse (white stone and 135 meters tall) is built. In the 14th century it finally topples over after two earthquakes. Until then fires lit its mirrors that shown out to sea to direct mariners. Alexandria also had a museum and the famed library, making it the “first city of the civilized world, certainly far ahead of all the rest in elegance and extent and riches and luxury.” Its population was about 500,000. Euclid taught at the Museum, and Archimedes and Eratosthenes (who calculated rather accurately the circumference of the earth) spent time there.

The famed Library at Alexandria contained “from five to seven hundred thousand rolls, and one roll often contained more than one work.” Ptolemy III seized all writings entering his port and after copying them returned the copies, not the originals, to those who had had them. This meant a ton of “cataloging, collating, arranging, editing, interpreting, (and) critiquing.” The Old Testament was then translated into Greek. During the Ptolemaic Period (aka the Hellenistic period), Macedonians and Greeks ruled over native Egyptians. Its last ruler was the famed Cleopatra VII, the only ruler who learned to speak Egyptian (Greek was the language of the administration). The famed Rosetta Stone came from Ptolemy V’s reign. Fun fact: under the Ptolemy’s the Sphinx at Giza was painted red. Ptolemy VIII married Cleopatra II and while banging her, was shamelessly banging her daughter Cleopatra III. Mother and daughter became “bitter enemies” – Egyptian soap opera. Roman power was increasing and soon “no one could hope to rule in Egypt without Roman approval.”

Cleopatra VII is famous in the West for doing both Caesar and Mark Anthony; romance was the only card she could play, and she did it really well on behalf of preserving Egyptian independence. When Caesar fled Egypt, he burned the Egyptian fleet so it couldn’t follow him. That fire soon spread to the docks, and then hit the famed Library which burned to the ground in 48 BC – the single greatest intellectual loss the planet has ever known. Caesar returns to Rome and becomes dictator for life (until Brutus decides otherwise). Caesar starts the Julian Calendar of 365 ¼ days, then he bites the dust. Octavian soon takes over after removing Lepidus in 36 BC and then Antonius (Mark Anthony). To incite anger, Romans were told Antonius wanted to move the Roman capitol to Alexandria, and then Octavian shrewdly declared war on Cleopatra, forcing Antonius to fight against Rome. Antonius loses the Battle at Actium and (thinking Cleopatra is dead) he inflicts a mortal wound on himself. He ends up (like in an opera or Shakespeare plot) dying in Cleopatra’s arms. Cleopatra commits suicide. Thus, ended the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Egypt then becomes part of the Roman Empire and Octavian becomes known as Emperor Augustus. Rome rules Egypt from Alexandria, Babylon (present day Cairo) and Thebes. Augustus takes two obelisks from Egypt and one them (Cleopatra’s Needles) ends up in New York’s Central Park where it is today. Rome today has more Egyptian obelisks than Egypt does. Even though the Alexandria Library was trashed, it still remained the best in the Roman world and scholars still flocked to it. Augustus sent over a million tons of Egyptian grain to Rome every year (at least 10% of its harvest) in a single huge ship that could only make two trips per year between April and October.

When Egypt falls under Byzantine rule under Emperor Constantine (AD 306-37), those grain shipments are then diverted to Constantinople. Constantine grants Christians freedom of worship with the Edict of Milan in 313. Thus, began Coptic Egypt – Christianity in Egypt. Half of Egypt became Christian “making Christianity the predominate religion in Egypt.” In 619, Persians take Egypt from the Byzantines beginning the Persian Occupation. That occupation lasted only ten years when Egypt returns to the Byzantines. In 610, Muhammad starts getting “divine revelations” and spreading the word. He dies in 632 AD and Muslim armies start invading Syria and Mesopotamia. In 641 AD the Byzantines surrender Egypt to the Muslims. Egypt becomes a province in the growing Arab Empire. Christians became tolerated but not equal. Greek is replaced in 706 AD by Arabic. Arabic replaces the Coptic language more slowly; by the 14th century, it was gone from the countryside and was dead like Latin.

Fun fact: before Federal Express, the Caliph al-Aziz (975-96 AD) once “had cherries flown to him from Lebanon on the legs of carrier pigeons. The Crusades start in 1095 when Pope Urban II tells fellow Christians to invade the Holy Land even though Christians are well-treated there. Europe was gripped by the pathetic thought of doing what Jesus would never do and raise weapons in utter defiance of his teachings. This leads to the delightful massacre of fellow Christians living peaceably in Jerusalem by fellow invading Christians. The Crusaders were of course supposed to come to the aid of those resident Christians - but fuck it - Christian hypocrisy at its finest. Then historically comes Saladin (Salah-al-Din). Then comes the Mamluks who free Egypt from the threat of Mongol invasion. The only way to become a Mamluk was to start as a slave and rise through “one of the Mamluk military households”. Under Mamluk influence their minarets “became a standard Egyptian architectural feature”. The Ottomans then take Egypt from the Mamluks.

Egypt remains a province of the Ottoman Empire for four hundred years; the center of attention moves then from Cairo to Istanbul. The Red Sea is protected by the Ottomans to keep the Portuguese away. Textiles were a major export. Alexandria was deteriorating back into a fishing village after the Crusade of Alexandria in 1356. Ottoman numbers in Egypt were never large and their influence was subtle. Then came the French occupation which lasted three years after which Egypt returned wholly again to the Ottomans. When the French left Egypt, the British took a bunch of Egyptian antiquities (this book doesn’t explain how) to British Museums, including the Rosetta Stone found by a French soldier.

Then comes Muhammad Ali, considered the founder of modern Egypt. He wanted to turn it into a modern industrial society and major military power, and so he hired lots of Europeans to do so. He interviewed all Europeans coming to Egypt to see if they could offer something. He created 32 canals, 10 dikes, and 41 dams – lots of enormous projects with as many as 300,000 conscripted workers. His irrigation improvements led Egypt to have two or three crops annually instead of one. Alexandria started making a comeback. “Muhammad Ali’s strong emphasis on foreign trade made the city’s two harbors busy again.” His “administrative reforms outlived him and became part of the Egyptian state”. Fun fact: when many Egyptians had one of their eyes put out to keep from serving in the military, a regiment of one-eyed men was formed. Oops… Muhammad Ali’s fourth son Said started the building of the Suez Canal even though three large stony ridges were in the way. New steam technology allowed the construction and allowed the movement of ships with bad winds and currents being no longer an issue. Still, “working conditions were often horrific; sometimes the men had to dig with their bare hands” for little pay and little food. Egypt’s population went from 4.5 million in 1800 to 7.8 million in 1882. A middle-class appeared of government workers, teachers, and businessmen. Cairo was modernized, medieval neighborhoods ripped down, “destroying many architectural treasures along the way.” European style hotels were built. The first Baedeker guide to Egypt gets published in 1878. Egypt goes bankrupt and is largely owned by European bankers. “Henceforth, Egypt, though a province of the Ottoman Empire, was under European control”.

In 1882, the British move in and occupy Egypt for seventy years even though legally Egypt was still a province of the Ottoman Empire. It was called a “veiled protectorate”. The British help with water issues to jack up the cotton output and return Egypt to solvency. They also win the battle of Omdurman against the Sudan (reconquest of the Sudan) and then enter Khartoum to loot it (no doubt in a civilized fashion). They throw the Mahdi’s body into the Nile and Kitchener keeps the skull (those Brits sure are civilized).

After WWI, France gets the spoils of Syria and Lebanon, while Britain gets Palestine, Transjordan, and Iraq. Egypt’s King Farouk was handsome, well spoken, and an autocrat like his dad Fuad. He was a womanizer and soon grew “grossly obese.” The British make a stand two times at al-Alamein; the second battle ensures that Egypt was saved from the Germans in WWII. The last British troops leave Egypt in 1956. Then comes nationalist Nasser. To the US, Nasser’s crime was wanting to be non-aligned and was even willing to hang with non-Western nations – the horror! He nationalized the Suez Canal which put Britain’s panties in a bunch, but most of the world “affirmed the right of a state to nationalized institutions within its own borders.” The Canal reopens in 1957.

The Aswan Dam is completed in 1970 making it the biggest damn dam in the world; Abu Simbel was relocated on “higher ground” (soon to be a Stevie Wonder song). This meant Nubian archaeological finds would be lost under the water, and Egypt would now need chemical fertilizer the dam kept the annual flooding of the Nile from happening. But the High Dam dramatically increased the size of arable land, added electricity, and water available in times of famine. Nassar establishes minimum wage, increases health care, subsidizes housing for the poor, and expands education – the kind of do-gooder stuff that got the US mad at Gaddafi and makes today’s Republicans foam at the mouth. The July Laws of 1961, nationalize “most of Egypt’s factories, banks, insurance companies, transport facilities, import-export companies, large hotels, print and broadcast media and many other areas of the economy.” On the negative side, Nassar’s mukhabarat security services had doormen informing on occupants and “people were afraid to speak openly.” By 1967 Egypt’s debt was $2 billion and made worse by a Western economic boycott. There was a mass exodus of Egyptian workers abroad, and it’s still the same today. Most of them earn more abroad than they could have earned in Egypt.

In 1967 Israel attacks Egypt, steals the Golan Heights from Syria and the entire West Bank from the Palestinians, and takes the Sinai from Egypt. Tourists stopped coming to Egypt and the Suez Canal no longer offered Egypt deeply needed funds. Nassar turned to the UN which issued UN Security Council resolution 242, “which called for Israel to withdraw from the territories it had taken in the 1967 war.” Then Nassar dies and 4 million Egyptians hit the streets to mourn “the first truly native Egyptian ruler of Egypt in more than two thousand years.”

Israel gets a new prime minister, Menachem Begin, “a former Zionist terrorist who had been responsible for the 1948 Deir Yasin Massacre in which some two hundred Palestinian civilians, mostly old men, women and children, were slaughtered.” Nassar’s replacement is vice-president Sadat, a known yes man. He dismantles Nassar’s security state (but not all of it) and people started speaking their minds again. When Sadat removes the Russians from Egypt, his popularity locally soared. But without Sinai oil and the Suez Canal, Egypt sorely needed cash. So, in 1973 Sadat starts a war to get the Sinai back. This October War successfully brings “international diplomacy into his quest for regaining Sinai.” Sadat makes concessions to Begin for peace but Begin (staying in character) offers zero concessions to Sadat - the joys of negotiating with a rogue state. Most Arab states then severed diplomatic relations with Egypt and Saudi Arabia withdraws military aid. Israel responds by tripling down on war crimes (1967 anyone?) by annexing Golan Heights in 1981 and invading Lebanon in 1982. Perhaps Israel was sad that it was still seen as a second-rate rogue state next to the US, and wanted the first place trophy. Sadat makes odious sharia the law of the land, which was an affront to the Coptic minority. In 1981 Sadat is assassinated and is replaced by Mubarak as president. “Almost all Egyptians disapprove of the methods of Islamic extremists.” By 2000, the Suez Canal was earning Egypt over $3 billion dollars annually. Egypt’s population rose from 10 million in 1900, to 68 million in 2000.

Extra Info from the Book: The Nile is the longest river in the world and all of Egypt’s water comes from it. The Nile gets its water from the White Nile, Blue Nile and the Atbara river. The Nile had historically helped the movement of stone over long distances. “95% of the population of Egypt still live within a few miles of that river”. And so, the need for long-distance roads was an afterthought. Egypt had no ports until Alexandria was built. The Red Sea was finally connected to the Mediterranean in 1869 (with the Suez Canal). The canal had been a pipe dream until the invention of steam made it finally practical.

Most Americans asked about Egypt, will say it is a land of pyramids, the Sphinx, the river Nile, lots of sand, King Tut and Cleopatra (who looks like Elizabeth Taylor) and a funny way of walking (Walk Like an Egyptian). Everyone’s uncle today will tell you that Denial is not just a river in Egypt. But few know more. We certainly aren’t taught about the many times in history that Egypt was occupied by a foreign power. Egypt was first ruled by itself, then by the Hyksos, then the Nubians, then the Assyrians, then the Persians, then the Greeks, then the Romans, then Byzantines, then the Arabs, then the Mamluks, then the Ottomans, then the French, then the Ottomans again, then the British, and after all that, the Egyptians finally got their own country back.

Really good book – I learned a lot from this after being pretty braindead about Egypt, like many of my fellow readers, for decades. Kudos to Mr. Thompson.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The volume did not have a time-line but did have maps for Ancient Egypt and Modern Egypt. The writing had the dryness of an encyclopedia and provided an overview of the history, politics, and religion from the Predynasty to Hosni Mubarak. The photos picked up the slack about art, money, architecture, geography, and portraiture, but the music and literature were limited to a picture of Umm Kulthum and Naguib Mahfouz.

[Chetan Tyagi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The history of Egypt is a fascinating topic that has captured the popular imagination across multiple shows and movies. However, if you really want to get a compact yet comprehensive view of some 8000 odd years of this country, it feels very daunting. And that's where Jason Thompson's narrative is near perfect. After reading this, you might well walk away feeling that you have a very decent idea of Egypt - past and present.
It covers every era in Egyptian history and seems to cover the precise details that the readers would want to know about with respect to that particular period. Ancient Egypt? Pharaohs. Greeks? Alexander. Rome? Ceaser/Cleopatra. Modern? The dictators.
The hallmark of a great history writer is to have the right mix of storytelling without sounding fictional. Thompson has managed that to perfection here. Facts do not overpower the narrative and narrative does not lack the facts.
Another great thing is that the book feels pretty neutral. It is not trying to justify some position, rather presenting the narrative as it may have happened.
Finally, it is fascinating to see how the land of the Nile has changed immensely over the years under local and foreign rule yet somehow nothing has really ever changed. In an odd way, it seems everyone who has ever ruled over past and present Egypt has actually behaved precisely as a Pharaoh. The lot of the people has always been oppressed yet the ancient and modern Pharaohs continue to command obedience! There seems to be something in the age old culture of the land that is immutable even under extreme vagaries of time.
Thompson's writing is simple and easy to follow. The writeup is also very appropriately split into various segments that enable readers to follow a complex web with relative ease.
Overall, an easy 5 star and definitely a recommendation for anyone who enjoys history.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the sort of book I usually read, and a lot of it probably went right over my head. Still, it was very interesting and I found it worth my while.

This book was recommended as a prelude to a book on Akhenaten. For that, I only needed to read the first 1/3 of the book, which covered the earliest history, including the whole list of dynasties.
The next 1/3 was less structured, dealing with Ptolomies, Romans, Christians and Muslims. The final 1/3 covered the British occupation and on into the 20th century, with one chapter apiece for Nasser, Sadat and Mubaric.

The chapters were arranged in chronological order, but with each chapter there was some jumping around, including references to some issues that spanned multiple chapters. I perhaps should have drawn myself a time line as I was reading. When I got to the 20th century, the world environment seemed more familiar to me (even WW I which really was before my time). Maybe I should try reading some world history to fill in a few more blanks in my knowlege.

[Emilee Cummings · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s very well done it’s just so dense it took me a really long time. I think I was also surprised how much more time was spent on more modern history than the ancient history. I understand that the resources available for the modern stuff are much greater so there is likely just a better understanding but I would have liked more on the ancient kingdoms times and a little less starting around 1800. Maybe that’s in part based on the history of the world that I already know and the parts I’m less familiar with. I recognize this is just what I was looking for and this book might be just what someone else wants so I would not dissuade anyone from reading it.

[Sheri Fresonke Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable easy read history of Egypt that is suitable for travelers planning to take a Nile Cruise. The history offered ties the reader to specific historical temples, cities, mauseleums, etc. that are often visited during a trip to Egypt. It also tries to make sense of how history has formed current government issues. The history stops a little soon, not covering anything post-Mubarak but otherwise is very useful.

[Michael Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone interested in an understandable summary of approximately 5,000 years of history, this is the book. No one will become an expert in Egyptian history by reading this, but it will enable anyone with a casual interest in the subject to understand the essence of agent Egypt as well as the relationships with various conquerors/occupying forces over the centuries. An overview, of course, but one that is presented well and provides an excellent springboard to further reading.

[Lerin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a difficult book to try to write… a history of Egypt from pre-pharaonic times through (roughly) present day was a difficult feat and much had to be left out because of that, but this was an excellent introduction that was clearly lined out to help organize the country’s history for a beginner. Commentary was sparse because of the difficulty of summarizing so much rich history, but provides a good intro with further reading.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific job distilling Egypt’s history into a single, readable volume. Now have a much better understanding of and appreciation for this 5000-yr-old civilization. The only shortcoming is it doesn’t cover the last 15 years. An updated edition would be great.

[Lila M. Brightbill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Readable

This is an extremely thorough and interesting summary of Egyptian history. Unfortunately, it ends with Mubarak still in power. Much has occurred since, and an additional chapter is needed to cover the 21st century.

[D Kass · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of Egyptian history from ancient to modern times.

[Kimberly Jobe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never again. I’m so glad to be done.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent run down and primer on Egyptian history from the most ancient times to the early 21st century.

[RainOnMeTsunami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tbh, loved his writing style, concrete and direct especially after the Arab conquest

[Thoams · Rating 5 out of 5]

well written if you're interested in the history of Egypt

[Iñaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una buena lectura para una visión de conjunto de la amplia historia de Egipto.

[John Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because of the drama of Egyptian life the past few years, Thompson's book, published in 2008, is already behind the times. Hopefully there is a newer edition of this book. Based on the way that Thompson brought the reader straight up to the present (as of 2008), I imagine that a new edition would greatly inform the reader of all the relevant background information of what is currently going on in Egypt. Even without a newer edition Thompson has still done such a good job with the history of the past two hundred years that the reader will still feel more informed about Egypt's current events by reading this book than from the best media coverage. He's done quite a good job.

It's always difficult to provide a continuous narrative-type history for lay readers. I say "narrative-type" because it's not exactly a narrative history, just a history focused on concepts, themes, and stories rather than hard facts, though there are plenty of hard facts in here. In general, Thompson does a great job, structuring the history around the major concepts and players in Egyptian history so that the reading is always interesting, leaves you feeling deeply learned about some more prominent things and at least aware of all other traits of Egyptian history. The only critique that I have is that the first few chapters leave a few sentences to the imagination. Yes, of course it makes sense to spend more time on recent history, but there are times in the first few chapters on Ancient Egypt that Thompson says, "such and such is complicated," without explaining why it's complicated. If something is complicated and would take a lot of time to explain, then I don't care, but you could at least give me a sentence or two to tell me why it's complicated or who or what is involved in the complication so that I'm not totally in the dark.

In general, though, this is one of the best histories that I've read. Well-written for a number of reasons, mainly because Thompson doesn't cover subjects and then forget about them. He takes great care in threading ideas together over thousands of years, reminding you of earlier history, and picking out good characters and stories. I'm not all that interested in Egypt, I just find it a fascinating country with a fascinating history, but all throughout I was rather excited to continue reading. And it's just a history book!

[Leah K · Rating 3 out of 5]

A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present by Jason Thompson

★★★

I think this title is pretty self explanatory. It’s the history…of Egypt…5,000 years of it…in 380 pages. So it is a lot of history jammed into a fairly small book but that doesn’t make it bad. The author states that he wanted to make a comprehensive book on the history of the country and that’s exactly what he did. It’s pretty bare bones. He focuses more on the political aspect of the country although religious and cultural aspects are thrown in. But amazingly enough the author manages to get all 5,000 years of history and quite well. It was informative and well researched. It is a great book for those that want to travel to the country or just looking for a little background information. I knew very little about this country (except for the obvious pharaohs and mummies) so I enjoyed this book. However, at some points I did find myself zoning out. It’s not exactly the most exciting and adventurous of history books I’ve read. And while no fault of the author, I had a lot of trouble keeping all the rulers, factions, and religions straight as the author sped through history – they all looked and read the same after awhile to me. It’s a lot to soak in. It should be noted that this book was published in 2008 – things have changed in Egypt drastically even since the publishing of this history.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should say first of all that technically I am the Publisher of this book. However, it was published before I arrived at the American University in Cairo Press earlier this year. When I got here, I wanted a digestible overview of Egyptian history from which I could later branch out to areas which particularly interest me. I don't think that I could have picked a better book with which to start. It is extremely well- and engagingly written covering the whole period from Prehistory to the Fall of Mubarak. Thoroughly recommended (and I thank you in advance for your purchase!).

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history of Egypt presented in less than 400 pages. From before the Old Kingdom right up to the present. A little dense to get through simply because of the amount of information, but readable particularly at the end. A very helpful and enlightening book (for me at least!).

[Mike Goldin · Rating 4 out of 5]

7000 years of history is an extraordinary undertaking for such a brief book. Thompson's account is careful, referential and reverent; he rarely overreaches, and alludes thoughtfully to alternative interpretations of the canonical history.

[Mark]

This book contains a brief look a Coptic Christianity.

[Teri Holford Talpe]

Very readable!