This gem of a book first came out in 1989. It was reissued in 2013. During the hiatus, a second hand copy was difficult to get and some were selling for about USD 1,000. I got my copy in 2013 and read it immediately.
Artemis writes very well. She has blended the political events with a social history of Cairo to present an intoxicating portrait of Cairo during world war 2. She has unearthed nuggets of social history of the British and Egyptians that passed by Cairo during the war that will appeal to readers who love the movie The English Patient. The story is briskly told. Readers who love her book (written with her husband Anthony Beevor) Paris after the Liberation 1945-1949 will delight in this book.