A novel of the invasion and occupation of Egypt by Napoleonic
France as seen through the eyes of a young Egyptian. The
Napoleonic-era French invasion and occupation of Egypt are often
seen as the Arab world's first encounter with the military and
technological prowess of the West-and it came as a terrible shock.
The Turban and the Hat tells the story of those three tumultuous
years from the perspective of a young Egyptian living in
late-eighteenth-century Cairo. Knowing some French, he works as a
translator for the occupiers. He meets their scientists and
artists, has an affair with Bonaparte's mistress, and accompanies
the disastrous campaign to take Syria, where he witnesses the
ravages of the plague and the horrific barbarism of war. He is
astonished by the invaders' lies and propaganda, but he finds that
much of what he thought he knew about his fellow Egyptians was also
an illusion. Convincing in its history but rich in themes that
resonate today, The Turban and the Hat is a story of resistance,
but also of collaboration, cooperation, and corruption. Sonallah
Ibrahim, one of Egypt's foremost novelists, gives us a marvelous
account of the Western occupation of an Arab land, one that will
resonate with contemporary readers. His portrayal of this
tragic-and at times comic-"clash of civilizations" is never
didactic, even as it reminds us that so many lessons of history go
unlearned.
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