All the men of the Pasha

Mohammad Ali places his country and his army before a scientific standard, seeing him neither as a legend nor a dictator, but rather within the historical framework that made him a very significant phenomenon in modern Egyptian history. He presents Egyptian history from the "bottom," meaning his focus is more on the governed than the rulers, a style that was rare in writing about Egyptian history before the appearance of its first Arabic edition in 2000. He succeeded in capturing the voice of that governed Egyptian without falling into emotional generalizations. He provides an important scientific and philosophical addition to the study of the concept of authority and its formation throughout history, and Muhammad Ali’s state becomes a model, analyzing based on this perspective the documents and speeches of the Egyptian army in that era, and exploring through delving into them the formation and development of that authority in one of its most historically impactful transformations perhaps to this day. He opened the eyes of historians and readers to very private documents, and transformed many legacies into sources for shaping history, entering archives that were considered before this book as unknown or forgotten, until he came to dust them off over the years, making us realize that they are a very valuable treasure in our history and in the study of our history. Khaled Fahmy maintained a fun, smooth, and dramatic style, guiding his reader to the facts through the use of very strong arguments, all while being completely clear at the same time.