My latest article: Egypt’s last dynasty

In the February issue of the British magazine Majesty (volume 35, number 2), which goes on sale today, I write about the last Egyptian dynasty. During the reign of the Mohammed Ali dynasty, Egypt was modernised and eventually experienced a nascent democratisation. Cairo and Alexandria were the cosmopolitan centres of the Middle East and the khedives, sultans and kings presided over one of the most splendid courts in the world. It was all wiped out by Nasser’s military coup of 1952 and the subsequent dictatorship, which lasted until 2011.