Cairo in the War 1939-45

'As hard to put down as good fiction. The research is wide, detailed and scrupulous. It is hard to think, on finishing, how this demanding book could have been handled better, more lucidly or more entertaining' -- Patrick Leigh Fermor, Times Literary Supplement 'This informative and enjoyable book puts political history side-by-side with the personal sub-history of the characters who determined it ... a mine of entertaining anecdotes' -- Rana Kabbani, Observer 'What lifts it out of the ordinary is the sparkle of the writing and its command of the background' -- P. H. Newby, Sunday Telegraph 'Much more than a lively and amusing social history. With enormous skill she has shaped it into a gripping account of the progress of the war itself and of the fortunes of its major protagonists. The result is bracing and salutary and very readable indeed' -- Charles Allen, Sunday Times