The Copts of Egypt: The Challenges of Modernisation and Identity

The Coptic Christians of Egypt have traditionally been portrayed as a 'beleaguered minority', persecuted in a Muslim majority state and by the threat of political Islam. Vivian Ibrahim offers a vivid portrayal of the community and an alternative interpretation of Coptic agency in the twentieth century, through newly dicovered sources. Dismissing the monolithic portrayal of this community, she analyses how Copts negotiated a role for themselves during the colonial and Nasserist periods, and ...