All the Pasha's Men: Mehmed Ali, his Army and the Making of Modern Egypt / Edition 2

by Khaled Fahmy

Overview

While scholarship has traditionally viewed Mehmed Ali Pasha as the founder of modern Egypt, Khaled Fahmy offers a new interpretation of his role in the rise of Egyptian nationalism, firmly locating him within the Ottoman context as an ambitious, if problematic, Ottoman reformer. Basing his work on previously neglected archival material, the author demonstrates how Mehmed Ali sought to develop the Egyptian economy and to build up the army, not as a means of gaining Egyptian independence from the Ottoman empire, but to further his own ambitions for recognized hereditary rule over the province. By focusing on the army and the soldier's daily experiences, the author constructs a detailed picture of attempts at modernization and reform, how they were planned and implemented by various reformers, and how the public at large understood and accommodated them. In this way, the work contributes to the larger methodological and theoretical debates concerning nation-building and the construction of state power in the particular context of early nineteenth-century Egypt.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789774246968
Publisher:	American University in Cairo Press, The
Publication date:	10/01/2004
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Khaled Fahmy is associate professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at New York University.

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Between Sultan and vali: Syria and the nature of Mehmed Ali's military expansion; 2. The birth of an army: conscription and resistance; 3. From peasants to soldiers: discipline and training; 4. Beyond the facade of order: the performance of the army; 5. Behind the lines: daily life in the camps; 6. The army and the Egyptian nation; 7. The Egyptian vali, the Ottoman Pashas and the British Lord; Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"Fahmy has carefully examined and synthesized an unusually wide range of archival and published sources, and his conclusions are cogently and clearly presented. This is also a very readable book." Avigdor Levy, The International History Review

"Khaled Fahmy has made an important contribution to the field. Students of Egypt, the Middle East, nineteenth-century military history, and civil-military relations should read this book." The Journal of Military History

"...Fahmy's book represents an important and unique contribution to the social history of Egypt and will certainly command a permanent revision of the literature on Mehmed Ali's reign." Turkish Studies Association Bulletin

"This book is based on an impressive amount of new research uncovering multitudes of documents from Egyptian archival material from the nineteenth century." Journal of Palestine Studies

"...well-researched and carefully argued study..." International Journal of Middle East Studies

"It is a critical text for scholars concerned with contemporary academic debates pertaining to Ottoman decline and to modern constructions of Middle East nationalisms and Islamisms." Religious Studies Review

From the Publisher