Title: Alexandria : a history and guide /
Authors: Forster, E. M. 1879-1970,; Durrell, Lawrence,
Year: 2014
Subjects: Alexandria (Egypt) History; Alexandria (Egypt) Civilization.; Alexandria (Egypt) Description and travel.
Abstract: In the autumn of 1915, in a slightly heroic mood, E.M. Forster arrived in Alexandria, full of lofty ideals as a volunteer for the Red Cross. Yet most of his time was spent exploring the magic, antiquity, and complexity of the place in order to cope with living in what he saw as a funk-hole. With a novelists pen, he brings to life the fabled, romantic city of Alexander the Great, capital of Graeco-Roman Egypt, beacon of light and culture symbolized by the Pharaohs, where the doomed love affair of Antony and Cleopatra was played out and the greatest library the world has ever known was built. Threading 3,000 years of history with vibrant strands of literature and punctuating the narrative with his own experiences, Forster immortalized Alexandria, painting an incomparable portrait of the great city and, inadvertently, himself.
Contents: History. Greco-Egyptian period -- Christian period -- Spiritual city -- Arab period -- Modern period -- Guide. From the square to the Rue Rosette -- From the square to Ras-el-Tin -- From the square to the southern quarters -- From the square to Nouzha -- From the square to Ramleh -- From the square to Mex -- Aboukir and Rosetta -- Appendices. Modern religious communities -- Death of Cleopatra -- Uncanonical Gospels of Egypt -- Nicene Creed.