Caroline Williams (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2002) 276 pp., $22.50
Cairo’s medieval mosques, madrasas, mausoleums, forts and private homes are often overlooked by tourists in their rush to view Egypt’s pharaonic wonders. As the author of the fifth edition of this useful guidebook points out, however, no other city offers a richer taste of the development of Islamic architecture. The book’s maps, drawings and sidebars will inform many a stroll through Cairo’s back alleys.
David Hockney: Egyptian Journeys
Marco Livingston, ed. (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2002) 72 pp., 28 color illustrations, $27.50
At the age of 26, the British painter David Hockney traveled to Egypt—at the invitation of the London Sunday Times—to sketch the lively street life of Alexandria and the ancient monuments of Luxor and Cairo. Fifteen years later, Hockney again sojourned in Egypt, recording his impressions of both ancient and modern worlds. These pen-and-ink and crayon drawings, etchings and watercolors are accompanied by commentaries supplied by the editor, an art historian.
Damascus’s centuries-old courtyard houses are beautifully photographed by Tim Beddow in this coffee-table book. The Damascene love of detail and geometric rigor is evident in the homes’ blue-and-white tiles, carved marble fountains and gilt doors inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide
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