This provocative work by a highly qualified scholar has become a fixture in modern Egyptian scholarship – as the comments quoted below attest. Gran’s strong argument for a reperiodization of modern Egyptian history is further strengthened in this paperback edition by a new introduction entitled “Reflections on the Persistence of 1798 as a Watershed in the Writing of Egyptian History.” This important addition is not only a lucid guide to Gran’s overall argument but a highly significant essay in and of itself. “Gran’s book, required reading for students of modern Middle Eastern history, is a pioneering study into the intellectual and economic history of Egypt.” —The American Historical Review “The work is outstanding in many ways: in the originality of conception and vision; in clarity and logic of presentation; and in its excellent synthesis and revision of major frameworks of understanding change and the nature of change.” —The Muslim World “This book made a breakthrough in the historiography of modern Egypt and still stimulates debates on the socioeconomic development of Egypt among the historians of the Middle East.” —Raouf Abbas, Cairo University

Peter Gran, professor of history at Temple University, is the author of Beyond Eurocentrism: A New View of Modern World History.