{"product_id":"cairo-the-city-victorious-9780679446514","title":"Cairo: The City Victorious","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCairo: The City Victorious\u003c\/strong\u003e by Rodenbeck, Max. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780679446514.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA dazzling cultural excavation of one of the worlds greatest cities--from its\nancient beginnings, through the heights of medieval splendor, to the present\nday--by a gifted writer who has spent much of his life in Cairo.\nThe seat of pharaohs and sultans, the prize of conquerors from Alexander to\nNapoleon, Cairo has never stopped reinventing itself. Even in this century,\nas Max Rodenbeck shows us, the city has transformed itself yet again--from\na glamorous European outpost into the nationalistic capital of the Arab world.\nAnd, most recently, we have been witness to contemporary Cairo grappling\nwith a population explosion that strains every aspect of city life beyond capacity.\nFrom its vantage atop the plateau of Giza, the Sphinx has witnessed it all: forty-\nfive centuries of a city evolving on the river plain below it. \"The Victorious\" is\nwhat Arabs call Cairo, and its indomitable spirit still merits the name.\nTo this richly textured story Rodenbeck brings a keen eye for telling detail,\ngained from years of wandering Cairos markets, chatting in its cafés, and\nburrowing in its dusty libraries. From the hashish dens to the salons of\ncontemporary Cairo, Rodenbeck explores the citys stark contrasts. Ancient\ntombs abut skyscrapers and genteel colonial mansions, and the people, pulled\nbetween the cultural poles of Paris and Mecca, struggle with the double burden\nof an incomparably rich past and a challenging future.\nWith wit and an understanding that comes from a deep-seated love of the place,\nRodenbeck brings Cairo to life in all its chaotic beauty. Fusing the excitement of\ntravel with the stimulation of history, Cairo: The City Victorious is an epic,\nresonant work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Knopf","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44983725031477,"sku":"ByrdShop_0679446516","price":27.38,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780679446514_8ee163b1-7da5-4845-a7cb-1d12e286a959.jpg?v=1778695892","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/cairo-the-city-victorious-9780679446514","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}