Cairo Inside Out: Expanded Edition
J. Trevor Williams
Trevor Naylor. Doriana Dimitrova, ph.
2019, AUC Press, 978-9-77416-922-9, $24.95 pb.
In Cairo Inside Out, author Trevor Naylor offers respite in the Egyptian capital’s architectural past, evoking the in-between places that anchor experiences in a metropolis marked by frenetic development and overlapping historical identities. It’s part coffee-table book and part city guide, with vivid color photos capturing light-filled foyers, Nile houseboats, elevated vistas, grand hotels and storied cafes. The “inside-out” framing situates the reader within the walls of landmarks like the Cafe Riche, Hotel Windsor and Ibn Tulun Mosque. Naylor’s historical commentary and practical advice on how to sail on a felucca or haggle in the alleyways of Khan al-Khalili complement the experiential quality in Doriana Dimitrova’s photography, captured over a year. Even the most cursory read inspires and equips prospective visitors. For Naylor, Cairo is a city not to be explored only for its current charms, but to be experienced by way of time travel to earlier points in its 1,000-year history, with buildings rather than people serving as his main cultural touchstones.
You may also be interested in...
The Ebb and Flow of History on the Zambezi River
In tracing the past six centuries of history, historian Malyn Hewitt captures the cyclical rise and fall of the river and its people.
Dubai Neighborhood Paves Way for Urban Design Preservation
Architect Peter Jackson and social geographer Anne Coles examine the origins, flowering, decline and restoration of the famed Dubai wind towers.
Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature Winner Gives Voice to Marginalized
“No one else will be destined to write a life story as squalid as mine, although it’s all true,” comments the elusive protagonist of Algerian author Ahmed Taibaoui’s noir novel.