INTRODUCTION

Standing, as it does, on the geographic crossroads between Africa, Asia and Europe, Egypt has always excited the imagination of outsiders. Modern Egyptians are a creative mélange of Africans and Europeans, Arabs and Nubians, Muslims and Copts, religious devotees and secular pragmatists, peasants and city dwellers. Yet despite centuries of buffeting by outside influences, the Egyptians have managed to maintain their indigenous identity, national integrity and international influence. Their ability to do so has been assisted by geography, the most powerful factor in Egyptian history.