Lifting the Veil: Two Centuries of Travellers, Traders and Tourists in Egypt - Softcover

Sattin, Anthony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1848857691 ISBN 13: 9781848857698

Publisher: Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2011

Synopsis

The Scottish traveller James Bruce, who reached Cairo in 1768, explained that he was on his way up the Nile merely to see what was there. In his footsteps there followed a multi-national crowd of traders and tourists, soldiers and fortune-seekers, scholars and empire-builders, lured by Egypt's rich and ancient history, her compelling landscapes, the elusive ruins of once-magnificent civilisations or her increasingly strategic importance in world politics. Spanning two centuries of Western fascination - from Bruce's intrepid journey up the Nile to the departure of the last British troops from Suez - "Lifting the Veil" portrays the shifting interests, dreams and failures, passions and intrigues of an extraordinary cast of characters. From Napoleon Bonaparte with his schemes to control the overland route to India, to tomb-raiders such as Giovanni Belzoni; from scholars like hieroglyph-decoder Champollion to Thomas Cook and his wide-eyed tourists and Cromer and his bureaucrats, this fast-paced and richly-described narrative illuminates a bygone world and charts the end of imperialism and the advent of Egyptian Independence.

About this title

Review:

'Lifting the Veil is just the book to take along with your Agatha Christies and Olivia Mannings (and the Alexandria Quartet for good measure) as you board that Luxor-bound steamer at Cairo.' --Charles Allen, Sunday Times

'Lifting the Veil is a fascinating story... Mr. Sattin ends his account in 1956 when the last British soldier left Egypt, on a day whose anniversary is marked by a public holiday. But now the country's economy is dependent on the tourist trade. Invading Britons are still there. Along with their histories of the pharaohs, they should pack this excellent book.' --Jessica Mann, Weekend Telegraph

'Sattin has undoubted literary verve, which he uses in telling the stories of famous characters like General Gordon, Lucie Duff Gordon, the archetypal Victorian lady (even while she was dying of consumption on the banks of the Nile), and the tomb-hunting Lord Carnarvon.' --David Pryce-Jones, Financial Times

Book Description:

From Napoleon Bonaparte with his schemes to control the overland route to India, to tomb-raiders such as Giovanni Belzoni; from scholars like hieroglyph-decoder Champollion to Thomas Cook and his wide-eyed tourists, this narrative illuminates a bygone world and charts the end of imperialism and the advent of Egyptian Independence.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tauris Parke Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1848857691
• ISBN 13: 9781848857698
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320