The Pasha - by Letitia W Ufford (Paperback)

About the Book

In 1811, Mehemet Ali Pasha, governor of Egypt, gained final control of that country by a massacre of the mamluks, slave dynasties that had ruled there for hundreds of years. The Pasha then began to modernize the Egyptian army. With his subsequent conquest of Syria and its resources, he sought to solidify his territories into a powerful and self-sufficient state that could resist the demands of the Ottoman Sultan as well as the West. Known as the founder of modern Egypt, Mehemet Ali continues to fascinate by his extraordinary personality and his important role in European history. This book shines a light on the great international crisis of 18391841, precipitated by the Pasha when his army threatened to shatter the Ottoman Empire, tempting the European Powers to fight each other over control of the pieces. Great Britain formed a coalition and attacked him. The French, who supported him, brought Europe to the brink of war. Combining, for the first time, military and diplomatic history, the words of the famous participants and geographical descriptions, this book makes use of archives in Britain, France, Austria, and printed materials in Arabic, as well as the almost daily reports by the French consul at Mehemet Alis court in Alexandria. The book draws important parallels with more recent events, especially the Pasha's handling of foreign interlocutors. A glossary, maps, and lists identifying the major persons and events help to tell the many-faceted story of Mehemet Ali Pashas confrontation with the West.

Book Synopsis

With striking parallels to recent confrontations in Iraq, this is the story of the first Western international coalition to suppress an aggressive Middle Eastern ruler. The challenger was Mehemet Ali Pasha, called the founder of modern Egypt. Convinced that the Europeans would never be able to unite against him, he sought, with charm, brilliance and bravado, to create a powerful Muslim counterweight to the encroaching West.

Drawing on research on three continents, this timely book takes the reader into the heart of a crisis as France, Great Britain, the Ottoman government and the Pasha of Egypt maneuver to defend their interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. Here are the passionate debates among French and British politicians as they struggle to control the Pasha without provoking a European war. Here are the battlefields--from the Euphrates to Beirut--on which Mehemet Ali's modernizing forces created the facts that fed the crisis. Here are the Sultan's ministers at Istanbul, buffeted by the threats of European ambassadors. And here, in confrontation, is the fascinating Mehemet Ali Pasha, in constant conversation with those seeking to deflect him from his dangerous ambition. As France began the fortification of Paris, as Prussia contemplated the French threat of a war on the Rhine and as British warships flooded the Mediterranean, Mehemet Ali sat cross-legged on his sumptuous divan, looking from his palace out over his beautiful fleet at anchor in the bay of Alexandria, and challenged the western world.

Review Quotes

"detailed descriptions...maps are very well done"-The Journal of Military History; "The Pasha lets the diplomatic crisis unfold as understood and experienced by the principal actors, giving it the dramatic quality of theatre"-L. Carl Bown, Foreign Affairs; "a fascinating account"-Afaf Lutfi al Sayyid Marsot, author of Egypt in the Reign of Muhammad Ali.

About the Author

Letitia W. Ufford, an independent scholar, received her Ph.D. in Middle Eastern history from Columbia University.