Zeinab Abul-Magd. Imagined Empires: A History of Revolt in Egypt.

Abstract

In this thought-provoking book, Zeinab Abul-Magd offers an original framework for interpreting the last 400 years of Egyptian history. According to her, this history is marked by the failure of successive empires and governments to control all of Egypt. Hence in Abul-Magd's telling, the empires that are used by most historians to delineate the major periods of Egyptian history were more imaginary than real in that they never entailed complete control over all the provinces in Egypt. Abul-Magd's main focus is on the relations between the Qina Province in Upper Egypt and the regimes centered in Istanbul, Paris, London, and Cairo. But the strategic location of Qina in global trade networks and its links with important areas of agricultural production in the region allows Abul-Magd to make the broader argument that by successfully stopping these powers, the local groups in Upper Egypt helped thwart the imperial ambitions of the Ottoman, French, British, and the American states as well as Muhammad ʿAli's family.