Aran Byrne

Naguib Mahfouz is one of the most important writers in contemporary Arabic literature. Winner of the Nobel Prize in 1988 (the only Arab writer to win the prize thus far), his novels helped bring Arabic literature onto the international stage. Far fewer people know his nonfiction works, however-a gap that this book fills. Bringing together Mahfouz's early nonfiction writings (most penned during the 1930s) which have not previously been available in English, this volume offers a rare glimpse into the early development of the renowned author. As these pieces show, Mahfouz was deeply interested in literature and philosophy, and his early writings engage with the origins of philosophy, its development and place in the history of thought, as well its meaning writ large. In his literary essays, he discusses a wide range of authors, from Anton Chekov to his own Arab contemporaries like Taha Hussein. He also ventures into a host of important contemporary issues, including science and modernity, the growing movement for women's rights in the Arab world, and emerging ideologies like socialism-all of which outline the growing challenges to traditional modes of living that we saw all around him. Together, these essays offer a fascinating window not just into the mind of Mahfouz himself but the changing landscape of Egypt during that time, from the development of Islam to the struggles between tradition, modernity, and the influences of the West.

As the Egyptian revolution unfolded throughout 2011 and the ensuing years, no one was better positioned to comment on it - and try to push it in productive directions - than best-selling novelist and political commentator Alba Al Aswany. For years a leading critic of the Mubarak regime, Al Aswany used his weekly newspaper column for Al-Masry Al-Youm to propound the revolution's ideals and to confront the increasingly troubled politics of its aftermath. This book presents, for the first time in English, all of Al Aswany's columns from the period, a comprehensive account of the turmoil of the post-revolutionary years, and a portrait of a country and a people in flux. Each column is presented along with a context - setting introduction, as well as notes and a glossary, all designed to give non-Egyptian readers the background they need to understand the events and figures that Al Aswany chronicles. The result is a definitive portrait of Egypt today - how it got here, and where it might be headed.