W. W. Norton & Company Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt's Roaring '20s

An original and well researched piece of social history describing a hedonistic Cosmopolitan Cairo during the three decades preceding the toppling of the Farouk Monarchy in the early 1950’s. It chronicles the lives of an unusual crop of Egyptian divas, dancers and stars, portrayed as assertive women defying the norms of a conservative society. Their lives and artistic endeavours took place in a climate of political and social turmoil, with frustrated aspirations for political independence from Britain, yet it was an open society where Jews, Christians and Moslems rubbed shoulders amicably. Cairo in its heydays of 1920-30’s , the cultural capital of the Arab world, was not far behind Berlin or Paris for the quality of its night life and the diversity of its artistic productions and entertainment repertoire. It welcomed Sarah Bernhardt and Josephine Baker amongst others, even Black American jazz players and various European emigres flocked to Cairo to benefit from its exciting creative opportunities and its open buzzing atmosphere.Nevertheless the main topic of the book is about the remarkable women, the stars of the era, who broke the mould and challenged the hold of men in the entertainment industry. By adapting and merging Western artistic influences with their own tradition, these female artists developed new trends in popular culture. They set up their own theatre troupes, dancehalls and cabaret revues and successfully launched show business ventures including the first talking Arabic movies. One of them published the first Art and theatre review magazine which survives to this day. These female performers embraced local idioms in theatre and films, and publicised issues of concern to women in their songs and scripts, from women’s political rights to arranged unions and marriages across the class divide. They aimed at securing financial independence and personal autonomy in their various liaisons. They were staunch feminists and promoters of progressive political causes. Their popularity reached across the Middle East, to North Africa and as far as South America, home to large Arab immigrant communities. It is reported that the funeral of the great diva Oum Kalthoum was one of the biggest public events in Egypt in the entire twentieth century, second only to the funeral of President Nasser.All too often works of social history about the Arab world hide behind the Western gaze, with comments derived mainly from Western onlookers. The author refreshing approach, sidelines them completely, to convey the point of view of the protagonists themselves and their contemporaries, speaking for themselves through published interviews and personal reminiscences. He has dug out newspapers articles of the period in Arabic, French and English and got hold of old films to build up gradually this multifaceted unique chronicle peopled with the fascinating colourful characters of Egyptian Bohemia. This unusual work full of surprising vignettes as well as personal tragedies entertains as well as educates.

Loved this book, the history and the wonderful characters……

It really brings to life Cairo's entertainment of the end of the 19th century and beginning of 20th century.

I lived in Egypt the first 26 years of my life. The last 50 + in US. I am familiar with all the character the author described. I have seen them in movies, documentaries and records. The Author wrote a well researched book about nightlife in Egypt. I surprised this book is written by an Englishman not an Egyptian. He also brushed on events of the 1919 revolution against the British, and was not shy criticizing England in interfering in Egyptian affairs. The book details the vibrant nightlife in Cairo in the early part of the last century. It will interest anybody who has lived there or remember those great singers and dancers. I enjoyed the book. Well done.

This book is deeply researched, fabulously entertaining, and is a very valuable contribution to the study of popular culture, entertainment, Cairo’s modern history, the role of women and social issues in the early modern Middle East. It’s good to see a book on this topic come out in an accessible and well illustrated edition which will get a much broader readership than a more academic work. This book should inspire further interest and research, and is a must read for anyone with an interest in the history of Egypt, early modern music and film, urban studies, and women’s studies. Congratulations to the author and publisher.