Foreword
As a frequent traveler to, and guest lecturer in, numerous Middle Eastern countries—Egypt, Morocco, the Sudan, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, and others—I have developed a real fascination for the culture, its people, and its history. My love affair with Egypt, pre-eminent in that continuum, dates back to a senior Fulbright visiting professorship when I had lived there for an academic year. Since those days, my involvement with Egypt has been enriched through a multitude of contacts—university linkages, supervision of numerous dissertations, a multitude of guest lectures, countless tours, sponsorship of my International Milton Symposium by the distinguished Minister of Higher Education, interaction with Edward Said and other renowned people at international conferences, and other similar events.
The country, in short, continues to thrill me and deepen my fascination. As a result, writings, which bring the culture to life, memorably capture its people, or offer the reader a graphic sense of time and place, rivet me. I am hooked both by fictitious or non-fiction accounts of this region. Good fiction, especially, serves to heighten my understanding and broaden my perspectives.