Egypt's liberal experiment, 1922-1936

Excerpt from the Preface: This book is written partly in an effort to explain to this and succeeding generations that each era has its glorious moments as well as its abysmal failures, and that posterity should judge a generation in the light of its times as well as in the light of history. By natural inclination this book would have concentrated on the social history of the period. But, alas, some of the political information concerning 1922-1936 is unknown to Western readers, and it is lopsided to write a social history where the political aspects are shrouded. For that reason I ask the reader's indulgence for recounting the rise and fall of cabinets as though that were the sum of a country's history, but the cause and effect of such changes in themselves mirror the ruling elite with its alliances and alignment and reveal its attitude toward society, and vice versa. Nonetheless some of the chapters of the book are concerned with giving a picture of Egyptian society economically, socially, and intellectually, with showing how the political activities of the time impinged on the facets of society, and with how society reacted to the politics of the age.