From James Bruce’s intrepid journey up the Nile to the departure of the last British troops from Suez, Lifting the Veil portrays the shifting interests, dreams and failures, passions and intrigues of an extraordinary cast of characters. From Napoleon Bonaparte with his schemes to control the overland route to India, to tomb raiders such as Giovanni Belzoni; from scholars such as hieroglyph-decoder Champollion to Thomas Cook and his wide-eyed tourists and Cromer and his bureaucrats, this fast-paced and richly described narrative illuminates a bygone world and charts the end of imperialism and the advent of Egyptian independence
""Lifting the Veil is just the book to take along with your Agatha Christies and Olivia Mannings (and the Alexandria Quartet for good measure) as you board that Luxor-bound steamer at Cairo.""
--Charles Allen, Sunday Times
""Lifting the Veil is based on the agreeable idea of travelling the tourist routes in Egypt and buttressing impressions with those of previous visitors, from James Bruce, the Nile explorer of the late 1760s and early 1770s, through to Noel Coward. . . The steamers that make Nile cruises today usually have a library to entertain and instruct the passengers. Lifting the Veil will do just that and no doubt will eventually be found in every one of them.""
--P.H. Newby, TLS
