Alexandria : From Hellenistic Civilization to Multiethnic Metropolis.

Front Cover -- About the book &amp -- About the Author -- Dedication -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Books Consulted -- Maps and Diagrams, with Narrative -- Introduction -- Chapter One: Alexandria in the Early 1950s: The Beginning of the End -- Chapter Two: Poets and Writers in Alexandria -- Constantine Cavafy -- Edward M. Forster -- Lawrence G. Durrell -- Chapter Three: Reflections on Ancient Alexandria: Replacing the Famed Monuments on their Rightful Sites -- Chapter Four: Alexander III: The Great -- Alexander's Education -- The Murder of his Father, Philip II -- Alexander Founding his City in Egypt, and his Trip to the Oracle of Amun -- Alexander's Iconography and Hellenic Artists -- The Death of Alexander and his Legacy -- Chapter Five: The Quest for the Elusive Tomb of Alexander the Great -- Chapter Six: Alexandria the Great -- The Lighthouse and the Ancient City -- The Palaces, Museum and Grand Library -- Literature, Architecture and Painting -- Alexandrian Religious Philosophy -- Science and Scholars -- Applied Mechanics -- Astronomers and Geographers -- Alexandrian Medicine -- Chapter Seven: The Collapse of Ancient Alexandria -- Chapter Eight: The Rebirth of Alexandria, 1,400 Years After the Collapse of the Ancient City -- Chapter Nine: The Foreign Communities: The People and their Contribution -- Chapter Ten: Four Years of Uncertainty, 1952-1956 -- Chapter Eleven: The Suez Canal War -- Chapter Twelve: The Decline of Modern Alexandria -- The Cover Illustrations -- Select Bibliography -- Index -- Back Cover.

Alexandria: City of Gifts and Sorrows is a historical journey from the third century to the multiethnic metropolis of the 20th century, bringing together two diverse histories of the city. Ancient Alexandria was built by the Greek Ptolemies who completed the grand library and museum, which functioned as a university with the emphasis on science. The city was known as "the birthplace of science," and this book contains stories about the scientists, poets, and religious philosophers responsible for influencing the Western mind with their writings. Modern Alexandria was rebuilt in 1805 by multiethnic communities who created a successful commercial city and port. In 1952, a coup to free the country from the monarchy and British domination was masterminded, and in 1956, the socialist regime under Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser closed the Suez Canal, resulting in the Anglo-French-Israeli invasion. This outburst of Egyptian nationalism and military revolution included the confiscation of property belonging to foreigners and the subsequent mass exodus of business and artisan classes that had made the city so successful. The author was an eye-witness to these events, and he sets out the political errors and failures of both Egyptian and Western leaders.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2022. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.