This is a memoir by one of the few surviving Egyptian Jews to remember
the golden age of his community in Egypt. It is also much more than
that. Uniting the fascinating, evocative, and sorrowful story of his own
family's experience of being Jewish Egyptians in the middle part of the
twentieth century with meticulous academic research, Gabriel Tamman
provides unique insights that are moving and informative. For many
years, the story of the Egyptian Jews remained largely untold except
within Jewish Egyptian and niche academic circles. The horrors of the
European Holocaust became, and remain, the best-known narrative of
twentieth-century Jewish history. However, Jewish history is complex,
and the stories of the Egyptian Jews, their lives in Egypt, their sad
departure, the roles that they have played subsequently in Israel and
around the world, and their memories of the past, all warrant close
examination. With no bitterness or rancour, his clear voice illustrates
a rich history and way of life that is no more, and invites a close
examination of Jewish Egyptian history, calling on Jews and Egyptians
alike to come together to explore this fascinating aspect of Middle
Eastern heritage.