Author Description

To readers in other world cities, some aspects of life in Egypt will no doubt sound familiar, while some may strike them as strange. Cities, like people, share the essentials, but each has a combination of qualities that is distinctive and recognizable. One of Egypt's attributes is grace under pressure, and that is mostly what this book is about. Another distinction is the pride of place and influence the city enjoys vis-à-vis Egypt. Egyptian geographer Gamal Hamdan went so far as to call his country a 'vast suburb of Cairo', but he said it rue- fully, knowing that Cairo's prestige has come at the expense of the rural provinces. Indeed, a significant portion of Egypt's population lives in the capital or its environs; it is the country's administrative, political, religious, cultural and media centre. A book about Cairo is in some ways a book about Egypt, but this book focuses as much as possible on the capital and its people.