"Few countries have appeared in the history books, and also the newspapers and television broadcasts, quite as much as Afghanistan."
—Preface to Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan
from when its people became Coptic speaking and Christian, in the first century CE, through their subjugation by external powers beginning in the seventh century CE, when they became predominantly Arabic speaking and Muslim. The shifting balance between the two groups, with periods of persecution, alternating with relative tolerance, is described, through the time of European colonization in 1798 and up to the present. The authors, one Egyptian and the other having extensive experience in the country, originally published this work in Arabic. This English version reflects upon the Egyptian Revolution in 2011 and after. A clear and very readable account, it includes translations of several Coptic and Arabic sources, otherwise not easily available.