All the Pasha's men

Author's name: Khaled Fahmy

It places Muhammad Ali, his state, and his army before a scientific standard. It does not view him as a legendary ruler or a dictator, but rather places him within the historical framework that made him a significant phenomenon in modern Egyptian history. It presents Egyptian history "from below," meaning it focuses more on the ruled than the rulers—a style that was rare in writing about Egyptian history before the publication of its first Arabic edition in 2000. It succeeds in capturing the voice of the ruled Egyptian without succumbing to emotional generalizations. It offers a significant scientific and philosophical contribution to the study of the concept of authority and its formation throughout history, and Muhammad Ali's state becomes a model. Based on this perspective, it analyzes the documents and speeches of the Egyptian army during that era, exploring, by delving into them, the formation and evolution of that authority in perhaps one of its most influential historical transformations to date. He opened the eyes of historians and readers to highly private documents, and transformed many legacies into sources for making history. He entered archives that were considered unknown or forgotten before this book, until he came to remove the dust that had accumulated over the long years, and made us feel that they are an extremely important treasure in our history. And in the study of our history. Khaled Fahmy maintained an enjoyable, smooth style brimming with drama, taking his reader by the hand to the facts through the use of very strong, yet completely clear arguments.