..". a very fine collection of superb articles... well written, beautifully researched." --Robert O. Collins

..". an adept, well-rounded and well-organized treatment of Sudan's many obstacles to national development. The book's greatest strengths are drawn from the expertise of its contributors as well as its multidisciplinary approach to complex questions." --MESA Bulletin

The evolution of the Moslem capital of Cairo is studied beginning with the Arab conquest, which led to the widespread intermingling of peoples on two continents, and ending with the discovery of the route around the Cape of Good Hope, which was to undermine Egypt's active international role. The book is written for people of various interests.

For centuries Egypt has been a citadel of Islamic learning and thought, and since the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty in 1979, it has been of immense strategic importance to American interests in the Middle East. But Egypt is also a country in crisis, torn between the old and the new, between unsettled religious revival and secular politics. President Hosni Mubarak favors a secular society. But Mubarak's government faces constant conflict with militant clerics such as Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman. In A Portrait of Egypt, Mary Anne Weaver argues that an Islamist victory in...

At the end of 1984, Sudan shot into the headlines as a result of famines, floods, locusts, political instability and civil war. In describing the collapse of Sudan's state and economy, Sudan After Nimeiri emphasises the extent of the country's current predicament and explains the difficulty of potential solutions.

Amongst the issues discussed are environmental and ecological problems, economic collapse, famine, debt, refugees, the role of Islam in Sudanese politics, Nimeiri's downfall and the administrative problems facing the transitional and present governments.

Egypt is one of the major powers in the Middle East. The vigour of its cultural life and the extent of its influence make it a force which cannot be ignored in the Arab world. Yet, despite the comparative confidence with which its rulers handle power, the country has a politically contradictory past with which to come to terms, as well as its role in a region of shifting political identity and allegiance.

This book examines the causes and consequences of the many crises within the Egyptian political, sociological, economic and moral legacy and the strategies which Mubarak's...