l This travel guide includes an encyclopaedic section on Egypt which covers the country's nature, history, architecture, arts and traditions. It presents a picture of Egypt as seen by writers and painters, offers itineraries, and provides practical information on where to eat and what to see. Egypt is made up of complex ecosystems, dominated by its lifeblood, the Nile: the Nile Valley; the Delta; the secondary water networks; the Nile's floods, their extent and consequences; the Aswan Dam, its climatic, ecological and economic consequences; the Mediterranean coastline; the coral reefs of the Red Sea; the Sinai desert; the sand deserts of the Lybian and Arabian chains; and the agricultural landscape both ancient and modern - oases, palm goves, cotton and sugarcane cultivation. This book also covers Egypt's history: the 3000 year history of Pharaonic Egypt - the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, their 30 dynasties and most significant rulers; the founding of Cairo; the great building programmes of Lower and Upper Egypt, trade in the ancient world; the growth of new religions; the period of Ancient Greece, Alexandria and its great library; Byzantium; the emergence of the Copts; the spread of Islam; the Mamluks; the Ottomans; the colonial period; King Farouk; and the Islamic Republic of Egypt. Two sections on Egyptian architecture describe the development from mastabas to pyramids, temples, towns and villages' defensive citadels. Copt and Islamic architecture is also covered, including the mosques, medresah, tombs, mausoleums and townhouses of Cairo. The guide refers to the arts and traditions of Egypt, from the history of navigation on the Nile, to festivals, music, games and culinary traditions. It also presents the country as seen by painters, and by writers such as Herodotus, Leo Africanus, Flaubert, Durrell and Cavafy. A special gatefold details the Nile at the time of the Pharoahs.