The American University in Cairo Press Is the Largest English-Language Publisher in the Middle East
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Catalog_Fall2012_COVER_FINAL:Fall2012 8/14/12 7:16 AM Page 1 The American The University American University in Cairo in Cairo Press Press The American University in Cairo Press is the largest English-language publisher in the Middle East. Founded in 1960, the Press plays a vital role in the cultural and academic dialog between the Arab world and the West. From Arabic fiction in translation through Egyptology to scholarly and general works on all aspects of modern Egypt and its neighbors, including the recent Arab uprisings, the publications of the AUC Press remain a canon of fresh and relevant publishing from the region. The American University in Cairo Press Cairo • New York Visit us at www.aucpress.com New Books Fall 2012 Catalog_Fall2012_FINAL:Fall2012 8/14/12 6:04 PM Page 1 Letter from the Director As Egypt continues along the sometimes uncertain path of political and social change, the AUC Press, from its offices overlooking Tahrir Square, continues to publish cutting-edge books that record, analyze, and reflect on these historic times. Since last year’s Revolution, Mia Gröndahl has been watching and photographing the birth, spread, and extraordinary inventive- ness of the new (for Egypt) phenomenon of graffiti and street art, and her new book, Revolution Graffiti (page 2), will be out in November. Before then, readers will be able to digest the first set of scholarly studies of the events of the last eighteen months in Arab Spring in Egypt (page 5), edited by leading political scientists Bahgat Korany and Rabab El-Mahdi. With a longer perspective, another group of scholars and historians reassess another pivotal moment in recent history, on its seventieth anniversary, in El Alamein and the Struggle for North Africa (page 8), edited by Jill Edwards. And our history offerings this season go back through the second half of the first mil- lennium (The Red Sea from Byzantium to the Caliphate, page 14) to ancient Egypt with Barry Kemp’s definitive account of the findings from Amarna, The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti (page 16), and Miroslav Verner’s sensitive understanding of the role and function of the pharaonic temples and cult cen- ters, Temple of the World (page 22). In a publishing milestone, Ancient Nubia (page 20) presents the most complete survey ever made of the archaeology, history, and ancient culture of an under-studied but vital region. Prominent Coptologist Gawdat Gabra brings together the leading schol- ars of Coptic studies in another landmark publication, the comprehensive and fully illustrated Coptic Civilization (page 26), while with a different team, and with the lens of photographer Sherif Sonbol, Dr. Gabra celebrates the shared cultural heritage of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Egypt, in The History and Religious Heritage of Old Cairo (page 28). There are new offerings in both fiction—with newly translated novels from Saudi Arabia and Egypt (pages 31–35)—and Arabic learning materials, for both the Modern Standard (MSA) and Egyptian Colloquial (ECA) forms of the language (pages 36–39). And introducing a new series of colorful, informative Nature Foldouts for anyone interested in the country’s environment and wildlife are Birds of the Nile Valley and Egypt’s Flora and Fauna (pages 40–41). All this and more add up to another exciting seasonal list from the AUC Press: we hope you will like the range and quality of our new books, as well as the fresh new look of our catalog. Dr. Nigel Fletcher-Jones [email protected] Catalog_Fall2012_FINAL:Fall2012 8/14/12 6:04 PM Page 2 Popular Culture / Modern Egypt Revolution Graffiti Street Art of the New Egypt Mia Gröndahl A visual celebration of the art and artists of the walls of the new Egypt, by the photographer of Gaza Graffiti and Tahrir Square The Egyptian Revolution that began on 25 January 2011 immediately gave rise to a wave of popular political and social expression in the form of graffiti and street art, phe- nomena that were almost unknown in the country under the old regime. Mia Gröndahl, the photographer of Gaza Graf- fiti: Messages of Love and Politics and Tahrir Square: The Heart of the Egyptian Revolution, has followed and docu- mented the constantly and rapidly changing graffiti art of the new Egypt from its beginnings, and here in more than 200 full-color images celebrates the imagination, the skill, the humor, and the political will of the young artists and activists who have claimed the walls of Cairo and other Egyptian cities as their canvas. From the simplest hand-written messages, through stencils and martyr portraits, to the elaborate murals of Mohamed Mahmoud Street, the messages on the walls are presented in themed sections—Revolution & Freedom, Egyptian & Proud, Martyrs & Heroes, Cross & Crescent, Think & Think Again— punctuated by interviews with some of the individual artists whose work has broken fresh ground. Mia Gröndahl is a Swedish journalist based in Cairo, and the photographer of In Hope and Despair: Life in the Palestinian Refugee Camps (AUC Press, 2003), Gaza Graffiti: Messages of Love and Politics (AUC Press, 2009), and Tahrir Square: The heart of the Egyptian Revolution 224pp. Pbk. 24x21 cm. 500 illus. November. (AUC Press, 2011). 978-977-416-576-4. LE200 / $34.50. World 2 Catalog_Fall2012_FINAL:Fall2012 8/14/12 6:05 PM Page 3 Street Art of the New Egypt Calendar 2013 Photographs by Mia Gröndahl 12pp. 28x22 cm. September. 978-121-313-231-3. LE60 / $9.95. World. Also by Mia Gröndahl: 3 Catalog_Fall2012_FINAL:Fall2012 8/14/12 6:05 PM Page 4 Modern Egypt Egypt in the Era of Hosni Mubarak Galal Amin A new paperback edition of the incisive book from the author of Whatever Happened to the Egyptians? Galal Amin once again turns his attention to the shaping of Egyptian society and the Egyptian state in the half-century and more that has elapsed since the Nasserite revolution, this time focusing on the era of President Mubarak. He looks at corruption, poverty, the plight of the middle class, and of course, the economy, and directs his penetrating gaze toward the Mubarak regime’s uneasy relationship with the relatively free press it encouraged, the vexing issue of presidential succession, and Egypt’s relations with the Arab world and the United States. Addressing such themes from the perspective of an active par- ticipant in Egyptian intellectual life throughout the era, Galal Amin portrays the Mubarak regime’s stance in the domestic and international arenas as very much a product of history, which, while not exonerating the regime, certainly helps to explain it. Prominent Egyptian economist and historical commen- tator Galal Amin presents this new history of contempo- rary Egypt documenting the politics, international ‘‘relations, and social and intellectual history of the Mubarak era.” —Reference and Research Book News “[A] tremendous read.”—Al Ahram Weekly “Perceptive and insightful.”—The Global Ministries Also by Galal Amin: “Recommended.”—Choice Galal aMin is emeritus professor of econom- ics at the American University in Cairo. He is the author of Whatever Happened to the Egyptians? (AUC Press, 2000), Whatever Else Happened to the Egyptians? (AUC Press, 2004), and The Illusion of Progress in the Arab 180pp. Pbk. October. World (AUC Press, 2006). 978-977-416-567-2. LE75 / $16.95. World. 4 Catalog_Fall2012_FINAL:Fall2012 8/14/12 6:05 PM Page 5 Modern Egypt Arab Spring in Egypt Edited by Bahgat Korany Revolution and Beyond and Rabab El-Mahdi The important issues and conditions that gave rise to the Arab Spring and transitions in Egypt, in one of the first books on the subject from prominent scholars in the field Beginning in Tunisia, and spreading to as many as seventeen Arab countries, the street protests of the ‘Arab Spring’ in 2011 empowered citizens and ban- ished their fear of speaking out against governments. The Arab Spring belied Arab exceptionalism, widely assumed to be the natural state of stagnation in the Arab world amid global change and progress. The collapse in February 2011 of the regime in the region’s most populous country, Egypt, led to key questions of why, how, and with what consequences did this occur? Inspired by the “contentious politics” school and Social Movement Theory, The Arab Spring in Egypt addresses these issues, examining the reasons behind the collapse of Egypt’s authoritarian regime; analyzing the group dynamics in Tahrir Square of various factions: labor, youth, Islamists, and women; describ- ing economic and external issues and comparing Egypt’s transition with that of Indonesia; and reflecting on the challenges of transition. Contributors: Holger Albrecht Dina Bishara Sheila Carapico Ibrahim El Houdaiby Hazem Kandil bahGat Korany is professor of international rela- Bahgat Korany tions and political economy at the American University in Cairo, and director of the AUC Ann M. Lesch Forum. He is the editor (with Ali E. Hillal Rabab El-Mahdi Dessouki) of The Foreign Policies of Arab States Javed Maswood (AUC Press, 2008). Usha Natarajan Dina Shehata Hania Sholkamy rabab El-Mahdi is a visiting assistant profes- sor in the Department of Political Science at Nadine Sika the American University in Cairo, and the co- Samer Soliman editor of Egypt Moment of Change (AUC Press, 2009). 384pp. Hbd. October. 978-977-416-536-8. LE180 / $34.95. World. 5 Catalog_Fall2012_FINAL:Fall2012 8/14/12 6:05 PM Page 6 Urban Studies Popular Housing and Urban Land Tenure in the Middle East Edited by Myriam Ababsa, Case Studies from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey Baudouin Dupret, and Eric Denis When governments fail them, how citizens organize and build their own communities Irregular or illegal housing constitutes the ordinary condition of popular urban housing in the Middle East.