A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present (Book Review)



A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present (Book Review)

“A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present”, by Jason Thompson, is a concise and to the point compilation of the history of Egypt; the author begins before Egypt became known for its architectural wonders and the reign of the pharaohs and seamlessly travels through history in a mere 400 pages. The author's purpose is to enlighten the reader with information regarding how the pharaohs are an integral part of Egypt's history; highlighting connections between the ancient kings and the modern day Arabs which can be quite surprising at times. The purpose of this paper is to review a book on Egypt's history. The paper will discuss whether or not the author was successful is attaining the purpose of the book, the style of writing he used, the target audience and how readable the book actually is. The paper will conclude with recommendations as to how it can be improved if future editions are in the works along with comments for anybody that might be considering giving it a read.

As far as a historical perspective is concerned, Thompson does quite well in delivering the message. Unfortunately, the method in which Thompson delivers the information is rather monotonous. The book lacks a rhythm and is definitely not an 'un-put-down-able' thriller. A perfect example of this is the few opening pages of the book. If one were to randomly pick it up, read the first few pages, they would feel that the book is more geographically descriptive than it is historical. This is quite contrary to the remaining of the text where Thompson tends to dwindle on politics more than anything else (Thompson, 2008, pp. 1-3). Contrary to providing the necessary information, adding to the reader's wealth of knowledge, the book is not an attention grabber and at times it feels like one is reading an encyclopedia, as opposed to a tale of how the pharaohs and Egypt came to be. The book is more informative and monotonous as compared to a novel that develops readers and urges them to turn the page. Thompson could have made his writing much more interesting had he developed a better flow, creating a plot and describing many more factors behind the events that take place. Contrarily, an equal and just argument might state that adjusting the tone to conjure interest in the reader might cause the book to divulge from its original intent; to provide an insight into the history of Egypt. A perfect example of the proper use of his tone can be seen in the chapters that describe the Ptolemaic era, known for incestry among the rulers of the time. Rarely, however, there is the slightest hint of disgust in the author's words (Thompson, 2008, pp. 109).

The book is arranged in chronological fashion, as any good history book should be. Thompson does justice to the fact that ...