Robert Fisk On Egypt: A Revolution Betrayed: A Powerful Collection Of Reportage On Egypt?s Cycle Of Awakening And Relapse
by Robert Fisk /
2014 / English / EPUB
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More than any other nation, Egypt epitomises the cruel
disappointments of the Arab Spring. In less than four years, its
people have come full circle. A sclerotic, cynical, seemingly
immovable military regime, disguised by a fig-leaf of ostensible
representation, was swept away on a joyous tsunami of popular
idealism; a corrupt dictator was ousted, tried and jailed; free
elections were held, a new president peacefully installed, and a
new age of freedom and democracy seemed genuinely possible. Then,
with tragic predictability, the new regime degenerated. Corruption,
incompetence and repression provoked a counter-revolution; the
elected president was ousted and jailed, his supporters massacred
or rounded up. The old dictator was freed (for a while), the
opposition was outlawed, the faceless men of the military resumed
and tightened their grip on the reins of power – and thousands of
ordinary Egyptians were left wondering what all their suffering and
sacrifice had been for. No commentator is better qualified to tell
this tragic tale than Robert Fisk, unflinching critic of the
Mubarak regime and acclaimed chronicler of Middle-Eastern affairs
for The Independent for 25 years. This powerful anthology of his
journalism describes the full cycle of Egypt’s awakening and
relapse, episode by episode, as it happened – from the first
stirrings of unrest to the glorious dawn of Tahrir Square, and the
days of shame and atrocity that followed. Told with rare insight
into both Egyptian culture and the hypocrisy of the West, this is
history at its most compelling, written by one of the very greatest
commentators on the Arab world.
More than any other nation, Egypt epitomises the cruel
disappointments of the Arab Spring. In less than four years, its
people have come full circle. A sclerotic, cynical, seemingly
immovable military regime, disguised by a fig-leaf of ostensible
representation, was swept away on a joyous tsunami of popular
idealism; a corrupt dictator was ousted, tried and jailed; free
elections were held, a new president peacefully installed, and a
new age of freedom and democracy seemed genuinely possible. Then,
with tragic predictability, the new regime degenerated. Corruption,
incompetence and repression provoked a counter-revolution; the
elected president was ousted and jailed, his supporters massacred
or rounded up. The old dictator was freed (for a while), the
opposition was outlawed, the faceless men of the military resumed
and tightened their grip on the reins of power – and thousands of
ordinary Egyptians were left wondering what all their suffering and
sacrifice had been for. No commentator is better qualified to tell
this tragic tale than Robert Fisk, unflinching critic of the
Mubarak regime and acclaimed chronicler of Middle-Eastern affairs
for The Independent for 25 years. This powerful anthology of his
journalism describes the full cycle of Egypt’s awakening and
relapse, episode by episode, as it happened – from the first
stirrings of unrest to the glorious dawn of Tahrir Square, and the
days of shame and atrocity that followed. Told with rare insight
into both Egyptian culture and the hypocrisy of the West, this is
history at its most compelling, written by one of the very greatest
commentators on the Arab world.