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A one-of-a-kind exploration of this international destination city from within its inner sanctums, encapsulating the respite provided from truly unique vantage points
Cairo is a city of splendor and spectacle, long celebrated as much for its warmth and bustling street life as for the legacy of its tumultuous past. Yet for the countless visitors who fall under its spell, the prolonged din of its crowds and traffic can seem overwhelming at times, tempting them out of the city’s open spaces into its shadow light, the cooler, quieter interiors of restaurants, homes, hotels, and terraces. Cairo Inside Out evokes the light and moods of this great metropolis with stunning photographs shot from the city’s indoor havens. We observe it through and from nostalgic haunts, such as Café Riche and the Windsor Hotel, and look out onto its great sights—the Nile, the Red Pyramid at Dahshur, Ibn Tulun mosque—from the most intimate urban interiors, homes, and watersides. For those who may have lived in Cairo, this is a reminder of a city that moves and yet remains wonderfully unchanged. For visitors and residents, this evocative collection, an unabashed homage to Cairo’s persistent color and allure, will inspire them to visit those places once more.
This expanded edition in paperback includes over twenty percent new material not included in the hardcover edition. A new final chapter elucidates on the recently developed areas of Cairo’s periphery including the developments in New Cairo.
"A super book." —Humphrey Davies, translator of The Yacoubian Building
"Both Naylor and Dimitrova are experts in their field, but it is the combination of their crafts that creates the book’s aesthetic impact which is often breathtaking." —Sally Bland, Jordan Times
"This book will send me on new adventures." —Andrew Cunningham, Arab Bankers Association
“As Naylor presents the city, Dimitrova’s photos bring the text to life, creating a perfect seduction.” —Publishers Weekly
"These carefully captured perspectives speak volumes without shouting."—AramcoWorld
"Reveals the soul of the ancient city—beautiful, illusive, noisy, maddening, and teeming with life."—Foreword Reviews
"In Cairo Inside Out, author Trevor Naylor offers respite in the Egyptian capital's architectural past, evoking the in-between places that anchor experiences in a metropolis marked by frenetic development and overlapping historical identities. It's part coffee-table book and part city guide, with vivid color photos capturing light-filled foyers, Nile houseboats, elevated vistas, grand hotels and storied cafes. The 'inside-out' framing situates the reader within the walls of landmarks like the Cafe Riche, Hotel Windsor and Ibn Tulun Mosque. Naylor's historical commentary and practical advice on how to sail on a felucca or haggle in the alleyways of Khan al-Khalili complement the experiential quality in Doriana Dimitrova's photography, captured over a year. Even the most cursory read inspires and equips prospective visitors. For Naylor, Cairo is a city not to be explored only for its current charms, but to be experienced by way of time travel to earlier points in its 1,000-year history, with buildings rather than people serving as his main cultural touchstones."--J. Trevor Williams, AramcoWorld
Acknowledgments 8
Introduction 10
Nile and Zamalek 14
Downtown Cairo 50
City Gates to the Muqattam Hills 74
Khan al-Khalili 100
Old Cairo to Maadi 110
Pyramids and Pharaohs 128
The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same 148