classic books on Egyptian history

December 13, 2004 6:09 AM

What are the classic books on Egyptian history? I'm looking for titles that might appeal to a fan of Edward S. Creasy and Alfred T. Mahan. Ambrose and Goodwin need not apply.
posted by cribcage to Education (2 answers total)

I read "Red Land, Black Land" in college, and if I recall correctly, it was quite readable, in spite of being a scholarly text. Her other book is excellent also. In addition, E.A. Wallis Budge wrote many books on the subject of Ancient Egypt. Amazon.com lists 117 titles by Budge alone. If you're looking for something more recently written, sorry I can't advise you there.
posted by cass at 7:36 AM on December 13, 2004

Unrelated to your stated authors - Maxime Du Camp (calotypes) and Francis Frith (collodion plates) were notable for photographing Egypt + in 1849, and 1856 respectively.

Gustave Flaubert went with Du Camp as a reporter, I imagine even a reprint would be quite pricy.

According to this Amazon review of a Frith volume, the text is crummy, and the pictures are excellent.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 12:52 PM on December 13, 2004