Histories of the Jews of Egypt An Imagined Bourgeoisie, 1880s-1950s [Hardcover]

Up until the advent of Nasser and the 1956 War, a thriving and diverse Jewry lived in Egypt  mainly in the two cities of Alexandria and Cairo, heavily influencing the social and cultural history of the country.

Histories of the Jews of Egyptargues that this Jewish diaspora should be viewed as an imagined bourgeoisie . It demonstrates how, from the late nineteenth century up to the 1950s, a resilient bourgeois imaginary developed and influenced the lives of Egyptian Jews both in the public arena, in institutions such as the school, and in the home. From the schools of the Alliance Isra?lite Universelleand the Cairo lyc?e fran?aisto Alexandrian marriage contracts and interwar Zionist newspapers  this book explains how this imaginary was characterised by a great capacity to adapt to the evolutions of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Egypt, but later deteriorated alongside increasingly strong Arab nationalism and the political upheavals that the country experienced from the 1940s onwards.

Offering a novel perspective on the history of modern Egypt and its Jews, and unravelling too often forgotten episodes and personalities which contributed to the making of an incredibly diverse and lively Jewish diaspora at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East, this book is of interest to scholars of Modern Egypt, Jewish History and of Mediterranean History.

Introduction 1 In a Bizarre Country 1896-1939 2 Moving Histories, 1880s-1930s 3 A Moral Laboratory, 1880s-1940s 4 Extremely Close and Incredibly Far, 1915-1956 Conclusion

'...one of the best researched book on Egyptian Jews that I have read. It is the fruit of 9 long years of research, and it is as meticulous an accounting as one could ever imagine.'

Aimee Kligman, Women's Lens

Dario Miccoliis Fernand Braudel Fellow at the IREMAM/Maison M?diterran?enne del3‰