Once Upon A Revolution: An Egyptian Story

Award-winning journalist Thanassis Cambanis tells the &quot;wonderfully readable and insightful&quot; (<i>BOOKLIST </i>, starred review) inside story of the 2011 Egyptian revolution.<br><br>Cambanis brings to life the noble dreamers who brought Egypt to the brink of freedom, and the dark powerful forces that - for the time being - stopped them short. But he also tells a universal story of inspirational people willing to transform themselves in order to transform their society. He focuses on two pivotal leaders: One is Basem, an apolitical middle-class architect who puts his entire family in danger when he seizes the chance to improve his country. The other is Moaz, a contrarian Muslim Brother who defies his own organization to join the opposition.<br> <br>These revolutionaries had little more than their idealism with which to battle the secret police, the old oligarchs, and a power-hungry military determined to keep control. Basem wanted to change the system from within and became one of the only revolutionaries to win a seat in parliament. Moaz took a different course, convinced that only street pressure from youth movements could dismantle the old order. Their courageous and imperfect decisions produced an uprising with one enduring outcome: No Arab leader ever again can take the population's consent for granted.<br> <br><i>Once Upon a Revolution</i> is &quot;a welcome addition to the literature on Egypt's uprising&quot; (<i>Library Journal</i>) . Featuring exclusive and distinctive reporting, Thanassis Cambanis's &quot;fluent, intelligent, and highly informed book ... convincingly explains what happened in Egypt over the last four years&quot; (<i>The New York Times Book Review</i>) .