"Through extensive research in Egyptian archives, engaging and creative scholarship, and deep engagement with the history of colonial law and medicine, Khaled Fahmy has produced a masterpiece that confirms his standing as the preeminent social and cultural historian of nineteenth century Egypt."—Eugene Rogan, author of The Arabs: A History
“Highly original, empirically rich and intellectually sophisticated,
In Quest of Justice challenges conventional views by offering compelling new perspectives on law, science, state formation, and urban life in nineteenth-century Egypt. It is certain to have a major impact on a range of fields.”—Zachary Lockman, New York University, author of
Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism "This is a magnificent book that informs readers in all aspects of Arab (not just Egyptian) social and medical history which will be used as primary reading for courses on Middle Eastern history as well as on those of a more global nature concerning comparative studies of gender, public medicine, the political control over bodies, and, more generally, history from below."—Edward Roger Owen, author of
State, Power, and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East "Fahmy rewrites the narrative of legal and institutional development by bringing in the Egyptian state with its new capacities and its elite as actors with clear interests and strategies of their own, as well as the broader Egyptian population whose protests and accommodations shaped this history. This book will make a very major impact in a variety of fields, including those of the history of Islamic law and legal institutions, public health, and urban planning in Egypt."—Judith Tucker, author of
Woman, Family, and Gender in Islamic Law
