Cairo: The City VictoriousFrom a noted journalist who has spent much of his life in Cairo, here is a dazzling cultural excavation of that most ancient, colorful, and multifaceted of cities. The seat of pharaohs and sultans, the prize of conquerors from Alexander to Saladin to Napoleon, Cairo--nicknamed "the Victorious"--has never ceased reinventing herself. With intimate knowlege, humor, and affection, Rodenbeck takes us on an insider's tour of the magnificent city: its backstreets and bazaars, its belly-dance theaters and hashish dens, its crowded slums and fashionable salons, its incomparably rich past and its challenging future. Cairo: The City Victorious is a unique blend of travel and history, an epic, resonant work that brings one of the world's great metropolises to life in all its dusty, chaotic beauty. |
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Abbasid al-Azhar al-Fustat al-Jabarti al-Maqrizi al-Qahira al-Salih Ayyub amir ancient Arabic army Azbakiyya Bab Zuwayla Baghdad Baybars became began British building built café Cairenes Cairo Cairo University caliph capital century Christian Citadel city's Coptic Copts court crowd desert dinars donkey dynasty Egypt Egyptian European Farouk Fatimid foreign French Fustat Giza Greek Heliopolis houses Ibn Battuta Ibn Khaldun Islam Ismail Italian Jewish Jews khedive King Koran ladies land later live London Mameluke Mameluke sultan mawlid Mecca medieval Memphis miles million Misr al-Fustat modern mosque Muhammad Muqattam Muslim Naguib Mahfouz Nasser native night Nile officer Old City Ottoman palace Pasha peasants percent pharaoh police Press Prophet Ptah pyramids Qalawun quarters rayyis religious rich rule rulers Sadat Saladin Saqqara Shagar sheikh Shi'ite slave soldiers stone story streets temple tion tomb trade Umm Kulsoum urban veil village walls women