A View Of Egypt

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28690, 13 September 1958, Page 3

A View Of Egypt

Young Egypt. By Desmond Stewart Wingate. 194 pp. Index.

In. “Young Egypt,” Desmond Stewart reveals himself as a sympathetic interpreter of Egyptian and Arabic ideas. However. “Young Egypt” is not an easy book to understand at the beginning. Would it be unfair to say that the first 25 pages seem somewhat incoherent? Readers who are not familiar with the Middle East will have difficulty in seeing the point of some of the stories in this preliminary section. Fortunately, what comes after is per-, fectly clear, and although not everyone is likely to agree with the author’s interpretation of the last 150 years of Egyptian history, yet his indictment of foreign interference prompts serious reflection. Mr Stewart has a positive hatred for anyone who may have looked out on the world, and particularly on the East, from the point of view of the Victorian or Edwardian ruling classes. His treatment of Sir Evelyn Baring provides a good example of this. Now and again, it is true, he does try to fathom Baring’s motives, giving him credit for some rudimentary good intentions; but generally speaking his criticism is destructive. He even adds some personal comments concerning his victim’s appearance that are far from charitable.

The intelligence of those Egyptians whose circumstances allow them education and the free plhy of the mind greatly impresses Mr Stewart, just as it impressed another acute observer, Theodore Herzel, many years ago. Herzel wrote concerning the educated Egyptians, “They are the coming rulers of the country, and it is a wonder that the British don’t see this.”

On the other hand, Mr Stewart quietly ignores the violence of Arab nationalism. Nor does he show himself interested in Egyptian designs on her neighbours. There is not a word about Communist influence in Cairo. Needless to say, these omissions help him to see most things in modern Egypt through rose-coloured specstacles.