Sara Razek’s Reviews > Egypt from Nasser to Mubarak: A Flawed Revolution > Status Update

Well, generally speaking I love reading history, but, yes I’m also a history student who specializes in modern Egyptian history, and Egypt is one of the most researched and studied countries in the region. Hence, the reading material that’s available is overwhelming. This book in particular isn’t an academic one (more journalistic in a way), but it’s interesting in that it sometimes offers nuances of how the state was single-handedly and whimsically run.

Well, I’m not sure how you should start tackling history; there are several approaches to the study of history. You can definitely read by region, era or empire. Biographies would be interesting to read too though you have to bear in mind that they are very subjective accounts. Since you are just reading history for your personal fulfillment, I think you should pick whichever book that interests you the most, especially that history books are usually long and could be a bit overwhelming as some are bogged down with critical theory to substantiate their authors’ claims.

To avoid the pitfall of historical lies dressed up as facts, I exercise my critical faculties. There are renowned historians who rely on archival sources to put forward their arguments. Of course, whatever we read we should always be vigilant because at the end of the day I believe there is no such a thing as an ‘objective’ narrative. Each historical account we read is coloured by the biases and background of its author no matter how much he/she claims to be objective. We are human beings and we are bound to be influenced by our own experiences whenever we write anything, be it history or sociology, etc. The point is whoever you read history, take a look at the primary and secondary resources the author uses and always read with a discerning eye.

Khaled Fahmy is the most renowned and respected Egyptian historian I can think of right now. He is already well- established in western academia as a giant authority on modern Egyptian history after he has revolutionized the way we read and understand the history of modern Egypt. Asef Bayat and Fatma al Mernissi are quite interesting too though they are more of sociologists than historians (but social sciences do borrow a lot from each other). I’m not with you that one should be skeptical about foreigners writing the history of other nations. On the contrary, some of the most well-researched and established studies on Egypt for instance were written by foreign historians. The point is whoever is the author, we should always read with a discerning eye. In time, you will recognize the names of those who are biased and prejudiced in their narratives, and those could be the natives of the country in question as well.

I hope I’ve been helpful with my rambling here. I’m still a novice in the field of history as I originally hailed from a literature background.

Well, thanks Muhammad! I’m glad you found my talk here helpful! I’ve unfortunately read bits and pieces out of Freud’s otherwise huge body of work, so I can’t pronounce an articulate opinion, but honestly from the scant amount I’ve read, Freud didn’t come across as a brilliant writer. In fact, I found him rather a misogynist, racist author who blurted unscientific verbiage.

Khaled Fahmy would be a good start, and having mentioned him, you can also tap into Abdelaziz Hammad’s articles who isn’t a seasoned historian himself, but writes excellent historical analyses every now and then. Leila Ahmed wrote brilliantly about women and social change in Egypt in the twentieth century, too. And I did English literature at college.

Thanks Muhammad and good luck with the readings!