Author : Trevor Mostyn
Publisher : Tauris Parke Paperbacks
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)
Book Synopsis Egypt's Belle Epoque by : Trevor Mostyn
Download or read book Egypt's Belle Epoque written by Trevor Mostyn and published by Tauris Parke Paperbacks. This book was released on 2006-07-28 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Egypt's belle époque was a period of incredible extravagance during which the Khedive Ismail's Cairo became the mirror image, both architecturally and socially, of decadent Paris. The glamour and hedonism of the era reached its peak during the magnificent celebrations for the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Kings and emperors, artists, writers and Europe's most sophisticated flocked to the dazzling new Cairo of sumptuous palaces and Parisian gardens, where Verdi's Aida premiered at the new opera house and glittering parties were held on the banks of the Nile. But the splendour was short-lived. Only a year after the Suez Canal opened, the Second Empire in France collapsed and the Khedive's excesses plunged Egypt into crippling debt. Ismail was eventually forced to abdicate, leaving Cairo to the British who occupied Egypt in all but name. This is a riveting account of an extraordinary moment in the history of both France and Egypt.