Egypt: Gift of the Nile: An Aerial Portrait

Twenty-five centuries ago Herodotus proclaimed Egypt “the Gift of the Nile”. Imagine if he had enjoyed the perspective available in this outstanding book: the unparalleled view from the air.Here is Egypt as it is rarely seen, in 178 remarkable color images by Guido Alberto Rossi, an Italian photographer well known for his aerial pictures, and lively and informative text by Max Rodenbeck, an American writer who has lived in Egypt for more than 25 years. Together, they bring to light the heritage of a great ancient civilization — and the beauty of a modern land.

Few places are as alive in the collective imagination as Egypt. Here is the valley of the Nile, with its temples and tombs of the pharaohs, the desert monasteries of the early Christians, the mosques and palaces of caliphs, sultans, kings, and presidents. Here too is modern Cairo, with its teeming throngs. Luminous colorplates display an extraordinary variety of desert landscapes, from sensuous dunes to ragged cliffs to gemlike oases, from the mountains of Sinai to the barren shore of the Red Sea. Only when seen from the air, as in the pages of this book, do Egypt’s mystery and magic come completely to life.