Dalbshani's bullet

Author's name: Iman Yahya

This is a historical novel by Dr. Iman Yahya, published by Dar Al Shorouk. It narrates the atmosphere in Egypt in the period following the 1919 Revolution, the details of the assassination operation and how the British and King Fouad hoped for its success, and how the British knew in advance of the plot and did not take action despite receiving information about the perpetrator. The cover of the novel is an original drawing from the time of the incident by the founder of caricature art in Egypt, the Spaniard Santes. The novel begins with Abdel Latif El Delbshany's return from Germany and his visit to his hometown of Mansoura, where he meets El Tobgy, his friend from his time in Germany. El Tobgy was influenced by the socialist movements in Germany and was attracted to Lenin's ideas after the victory of the Russian Revolution. During El Delbshany's discussion with El Tobgy, he expressed his anger, saying that Saad had forgotten independence and focused on the constitution and parliament. He said that he must be stopped at any cost, even if it meant killing him. - The novel's events involve Hassan Nashat, the head of the royal court, and the British who are present in the form of an official authority represented by the High Commissioner and Ingram Bey, the British representative for Russell Pasha, the head of police, due to his absence on leave in London. - In the background of the novel, there is the Egyptian street, angry at the British occupation, the overwhelmingly popular Wafd Party, and a group of young men from the National Party who believed that Saad Zaghloul had abandoned his struggle and was negotiating with the British. Some of them were followers of the exiled Khedive Abbas Hilmi II, some were followers of the leader Muhammad Farid, and some were followers of the Islamic movement of Sheikh Gawish. Also in the background of the novel are large numbers of Europeans living in Egypt, headed by a large Greek community and an Italian one, in addition to the British, French, Russians, and others. - The British intelligence representative went to meet Ingram Bey, the highest authority in the police, to inform him that they had learned that a young man coming from Berlin intends to kill Saad Zaghloul, and the required thing is to hide the murder weapon, i.e. the gun. The British report stated that if Saad were killed, Egyptian unity would crumble, and if he survived, he would be defeated and unable to control things. The intelligence representative told Ingram that Hassan Nashat Pasha, the head of the Diwan, was behind this plot. - The novel is full of historical events, and of course, as a fictional work, there are two love stories: one is a platonic love for the young Tobgi in Mansoura, and the second is a sexual passion for Ingram Bey, and both have many details. This novel tells of an important event in Egyptian history that was covered up, the perpetrator was not brought to trial, and the murder weapon disappeared because the police, the British, and King Fuad all wanted to kill Saad Zaghloul, and prevented the trial after the assassination failed.