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wedjatDespite the rather damp premise ("Ha ha"), this book was an extremely fascinating and fast-paced read. So many books about history could descend into "And in eighteen-sixty-one so and so did such and such, while in eighteen-sixty-two, so and so did something else". While there are sections of the book that purely deal with dates and events, these are merely the framework for a much larger, much more fleshed out story of Egypt's recent past.
The recent social revolution within Egypt has certainly brought it back to the fore-front of people's minds. Today, when one imagines Cairo, one imagines slums, poverty, the Pyramids, and thousands of years of history. It's easy to think, "Oh, how far they have fallen", but this work really defines that descent as not so much a fall, but vaguely sauntering downwards. Over centuries, Egypt has flourished, and then diminished, and then flourished again, only to diminish further. The history of Ancient Egypt itself is again defined by periods of intense, heightened activity, followed by periods of rapid social decay.
Apparently prophesied by the sage Neferty, the ancient literature describes the "future" of the nation:
It's ironic how these ancient words of "prophecy" (though apparently written after the events described) are fulfilled in Egypt's recent history. Trevor Mostyn sets the scene of Egypt in the late 1800s, a nation where nobles control the fates of many, where there is prosperity and success, though at the cost of the lives and wellbeing of those fellah.
The scene, however, is not the drawing point of this book. From the pages leap figures out of history: Isma'il Pasha, whose despotic and crazed attempts to reproduce in Egypt the "heights" of European society lasted for a few decades before descending into the "Age of Revolution", is certainly the biggest figure of them all, but by no means the most interesting. Eugenie, Empress of France, is a formidable figure in the early decades, as is Queen Victoria (who refused to attend the opening of the Suez), but later, familiar names such as T. E. Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh (both of them), Trollope.
"The Age of Hedonism" is certainly an apt subtitle: the figures described are notable more for their pleasures and the lengths with which they went in pursuit of them than any military, political or financial conquests that they might have made. It's easy to categorise the early, non-European figures as "cruel", "brutal", or even "barbaric", but later depictions of Europeans — English, French, Italian — demonstrate a trend of barbarism which resulted in what could adequately be described as "The Age of Revolution".
From beneath the heel of the British colonial rule, from beneath the heel of the Ottoman Empire, the heel of French colonialism and the conquests of the Bonapartes, to the financiers that ultimately controlled all of them, Egypt revolted and emerged as the nation that it was until recently; from the "Age of Revolution", like so many Arab nations in recent history, came the "Age of Despotism".
However, as Trevor Mostyn so excellently explains, history has a way of repeating itself: from oppression comes revolution, and the Arab Spring certainly mimicks the earlier revolutions of Egypt — those that succeeded, and those that did not.
While it might be nice to bemoan the loss of such a great nation — to bemoan the loss of the great architecture, art and society — it is easier to focus on what is left behind: an amazing country that has seen huge growth in recent decades, whose past stretches from the shady depths of antiquity through until today. Let's hope that its future is as fascinating as its past.
The recent social revolution within Egypt has certainly brought it back to the fore-front of people's minds. Today, when one imagines Cairo, one imagines slums, poverty, the Pyramids, and thousands of years of history. It's easy to think, "Oh, how far they have fallen", but this work really defines that descent as not so much a fall, but vaguely sauntering downwards. Over centuries, Egypt has flourished, and then diminished, and then flourished again, only to diminish further. The history of Ancient Egypt itself is again defined by periods of intense, heightened activity, followed by periods of rapid social decay.
Apparently prophesied by the sage Neferty, the ancient literature describes the "future" of the nation:
Behold, nobles no longer guide this land,
And what is done is such as should not be done.
The day dawns amidst falsehood,
And the land is totally ravaged.
Not a trace remains—not even a fingernail—due to its (evil) fate.
It's ironic how these ancient words of "prophecy" (though apparently written after the events described) are fulfilled in Egypt's recent history. Trevor Mostyn sets the scene of Egypt in the late 1800s, a nation where nobles control the fates of many, where there is prosperity and success, though at the cost of the lives and wellbeing of those fellah.
The scene, however, is not the drawing point of this book. From the pages leap figures out of history: Isma'il Pasha, whose despotic and crazed attempts to reproduce in Egypt the "heights" of European society lasted for a few decades before descending into the "Age of Revolution", is certainly the biggest figure of them all, but by no means the most interesting. Eugenie, Empress of France, is a formidable figure in the early decades, as is Queen Victoria (who refused to attend the opening of the Suez), but later, familiar names such as T. E. Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh (both of them), Trollope."The Age of Hedonism" is certainly an apt subtitle: the figures described are notable more for their pleasures and the lengths with which they went in pursuit of them than any military, political or financial conquests that they might have made. It's easy to categorise the early, non-European figures as "cruel", "brutal", or even "barbaric", but later depictions of Europeans — English, French, Italian — demonstrate a trend of barbarism which resulted in what could adequately be described as "The Age of Revolution".
From beneath the heel of the British colonial rule, from beneath the heel of the Ottoman Empire, the heel of French colonialism and the conquests of the Bonapartes, to the financiers that ultimately controlled all of them, Egypt revolted and emerged as the nation that it was until recently; from the "Age of Revolution", like so many Arab nations in recent history, came the "Age of Despotism".
However, as Trevor Mostyn so excellently explains, history has a way of repeating itself: from oppression comes revolution, and the Arab Spring certainly mimicks the earlier revolutions of Egypt — those that succeeded, and those that did not.
While it might be nice to bemoan the loss of such a great nation — to bemoan the loss of the great architecture, art and society — it is easier to focus on what is left behind: an amazing country that has seen huge growth in recent decades, whose past stretches from the shady depths of antiquity through until today. Let's hope that its future is as fascinating as its past.
