Publisher: Egypt bans book critical of Mubarak

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Publisher: Egypt bans book critical of Mubarak

40 minutes ago

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — The publisher of a book critical of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime says the book has been banned in Egypt.Publisher Palgrave Macmillan says in a statement that government censors banned the book "Inside Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution" by John Bradley.

The head of American University in Cairo's publishing house, Mark Linz, said Thursday that the university bookstore ordered 15 copies of the book. But he says the order was canceled after the government's censoring office said the book isn't allowed to be imported or sold in Egypt.

The government didn't have immediate comment.

According to a statement from the publisher, the book describes Mubarak's regime as a "ruthless military dictatorship."

Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gobZ8uw...Go16DAD924DVC82

Review of the book

Mr. Bradley writes a very telling portrait of modern Egypt, a country which has been ruled by a military oligarchy since 1953. The corruption, poverty and oppression which are hallmarks of the regime are discussed in detail and personal anecdotes are used whenever possible. The writing style makes the subject matter very easy to get through even if you are not an Islamophile or have never been to Egypt.

Many of the interviews and anecdotes took place in 2007, the same year I was assigned to duty in Egypt. Many of the experiences he had in Egypt are typical and I also had many similar experiences or knew people who did. Yes, Egyptians will not hesitate to tell you that they hate Mubarak and I also learned from Egyptians I met of the near-universal perception that Mubarak intends to have his son follow him into office. I wish the author had also mentioned the extensive cult of personality surrounding Mubarak and how his image seems to be everywhere... even if it gets vandalized in remoter parts of the country. And baksheesh is rampant in the country... I once had to pay a parking attendant a small wad of notes for helping me get out of my reserved parking space... he had allowed another vehicle to park too close to the front of my machine. Events that I could "verify" with my own experiences made the book real to me.

On the other hand, the author did not fully discuss the problems involved in removing food subsidies, political pluralism or the legitimate terror threat that hangs over Egypt. Also, the author feels it necessary to compare the routine torture that takes place in Egyptian police stations to Abu Ghraib... where no physical torture took place despite the images on the internet. He also feels it necessary to denigrate the Coalition effort to bring democracy in Iraq. The author bemoans the lack of democracy in Egypt but in none of the instances he mentions Iraq does he talk about the successful elections there.

Egypt's future is uncertain and this book definitely gives you a feeling for the disaster that looms on the horizon when Mubarak passes on.

Source: http://www.amazon.com/review/product/14039...howViewpoints=1

[Nagishkaw 510]

It figures.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Some of the other reviews on the book at that amazon website are really good. The book was written in 2007 and is about contemporary Egypt which you can't find much of according to some reviews.

[mohamdy000 0]

hi folks

i am egyptian. and i am not with mubarak in a lot of his negative attitudes towards the country problems, but hey... the corruption that is found in egypt is there in so many other places all over our world.

the writer mentioned that mubarak is preparing to bestow his chair to his son. that is right i guess but hey.... the american writer forgot that america blesses this "deal" with mubarak : give us a negative role concerning Israeli occupation and terrorism, and we give your son the green light to eat the cake.... do not we all know that presidents and political parties are put on chairs through dirty hidden games all over the world?

the writer mentioned a culture of "obligatory tips" ... that is just factual in egypt, but hey...... what about america? can you expect anyone to do you a favor for free?!!! hello!!!

what i want to say is that mubarak is not good, egypt has so so many problems in all levels. but other world leaders are not angels and other countries are not paradise... study your country first before studying others'!!!

the word "banned" in this headline reminds me of the "banned" head cover (which is not a mere symbol of islam, but, rather, a duty like fasting and prayers a muslim woman has to do) in france a young lady can not enter her school if she respects her God, yet she is welcomed if topless!!! hellooooooooo world!!

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

So you're in Egypt? You've read the banned book?

[Nagishkaw 510]

Hello Mody! Good post.

[mohamdy000 0]

thanks Nagy

[Nagishkaw 510]

Better days are ahead.

[mohamdy000 0]

you know nagy

i do feel sad that my people spread the dark sides of facts and hide the light and lightening ones...

and as egyptian i can assum that: yes, good days are coming God willing. because things can not be worth and people are not blind anymore. they are fed up

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Mmmm. One of the reviews about this book said that he documents in the book the revoultion movements that have taken place in Egypt every 30 years. Currently they are due for a revolution according to the book which was published just before the facebook riots started.

I am concerned for the fate of Egypt because my Husband's and his family is there and with Mubarak so close to the end of his reign because of age Egypt is due for a upheavel. One thing we learn in political sciene is that a country doesn't struggle because it is poor it struggles because it's trying to become rich. It's a domino affect like the old saying as Egypt goes so follows the Middle East and North Africa.

[mohamdy000 0]

well

i think corrupted leaders' problem is that they think their peoples are blind or not mature enough... they enjoy thinking that they are safe.

being egyptian, i feel a mixture of feelings... proud (because of my history) sad (because of my weakness) embarrased (because of my government) happy (because of my faith) worried (because of the american support for the corrupted, yet tamed, governments like mine)

the egyptian society is suffering from poverty and crazy richness at the same time... there are only two classes THE VERY POOR and THE VERY RICH

THE MIDDLE CLASS IS MISSING and this is a very dangerous problem

the muslim egyptian society is derived from Islam by means of media and corruption... for what? the planners only know!

egyptian society is unprotected. it is exposed to corruption in all levels and from all sides.

mubarak is a smart experienced leader. he can do many things. the problem is that he does NEVER do anything... he is not stupid...rather he is sleeeeeeeeeeeeping. HE HAS A ROLE TO PLAY (TO BE NEGATIVE!!!) AND A DEAL TO KEEP (THANK TO THE USA)....