This book is about the writer’s observations and interactions with Egyptians after the fall of Hosni Mubarak to the election of Morsi, the coup by the Egyptian army under Sisi and the subsequent election of Sisi as President.
Readers keen on the events that led to the fall of Mubarak should look elsewhere.
Hessler writes very well. His observations are astute. There is a nice mixture of historical background and social observations. You hear the views of a garbage collector, a gay translator, a Muslim Brotherhood member etc.
Unfortunately, Hessler does not appear to have mixed with the upper crust of Egyptian society and so we do not hear their voices, their hopes, or fears in respect of the Egyptian revolution. I have an affluent modern Egyptian client and he was totally against the Egyptian revolution. A book to be read to know the views from the bottom half of Egyptian society.