Crisis and Class War in Egypt

Sean McMahon begins his book on Egypt’s recent history with the argument that what happened there in 2011 was not a revolution. While such a statement may have been vigorously contested immediately following the removal of President Hosny Mubarak in February of 2011, hindsight makes it difficult to argue otherwise. McMahon expertly uses Marxist theory to deconstruct the events leading up to the mass protests of 2011 and the years immediately following and argues that it was class war and not a revolution. This book is not intended as an introductory text to politics in Egypt and can present some challenges for readers unfamiliar with Marxist theory and recent Egyptian history. Furthermore, there are quite frequent interspersions of economic theory including algebraic equations that can be confusing for non-specialists. Despite this, McMahon’s book is definitely worth the read. He offers an insightful perspective that is not often found in studies of Egyptian politics.....