Newly Updated Edition - Summer 2013

In February 2011, following an extraordinary eighteen days of continual protest by the Egyptian people, President Mubarak agreed to resign, bringing thirty years of a repressive and stagnant regime to an end. In June 2012, a new president was elected: Mohamed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which for half a century had been banned from operating publicly in the country. But, after only a year in office, Morsi was forced out by popular protests and the military establishment.

In this revised and updated edition of his acclaimed book, Tarek Osman sets the current battle for the Egyptian state in the wider context of the country’s recent history. Famous until the 1950s for its religious pluralism and extraordinary cultural heritage, Egypt has become an increasingly unhappy and divided land, home to a largely undereducated and underemployed population, more than half of whom are aged under thirty. Osman examines the crucial roles of Arab nationalism, the Islamic movement, Egyptians Christians and liberal capitalism in the country’s recent past and present, and asks: where does Egypt’s future lie now?

Tarek Osman, a political economist focused on the Arab world, is the author of internationally acclaimed Egypt on the Brink; a regular contributor to Foreign Affairs, Financial Times, Project Syndicate, and the Cairo Review; the writer and presenter of the BBC’s major production 'The Making of the Modern Arab World'; and the political counsellor of the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) for the Arab World. He has 16-years experience in strategy consulting, direct investment, and political-economy advisory. His website is www.tarekosman.com and his twitter account is: @TarekmOsman

'Tarek Osman, a Western-educated Egyptian banker and occasional columnist, brings the eye of an intelligent amateur to the story of this country's past half century. He writes with feeling, backed up by an impressively broad list of sources as well as sharp critical insight and astute judgement.' - The Economist

'Osman writes with a focused and uncluttered style which will retain the interest of even the most general reader.' - Joyce Tyldesley, Financial Times

'Full marks to Tarek Osman and Yale University Press for the bull's eye title of Egypt on the Brink.' - Boyd Tonkin, The Independent

'A well researched and closely argued book.' - John R. Bradley, Literary Review

'Osman paints a colourful and convincing picture of the decline of Mubarak's rule... A compelling account of how the various combustile ingredients of revolution came together, awaiting the final spark.' - Gerald Butt, Times Literary Supplement

'Osman, a native Egyptian, brings considerable insight to his country's problems and analyses the changes that have occurred... This book is an excellent guide to what ought to be the leading Arab state.' - North and South

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