Egypt’s Other Wars – Syracuse University Press

"Adds to our understanding of the way women have involved themselves in decision making and reveals the central role played by women in health politics in a society that is customarily portrayed as a patriarchy"—American Historical Review
"In this stimulating and original monograph Gallagher investigates the political manipulation of the epidemics of the 1940s by the nationalists, the king, and the British."—Choice
"The book is valuable in that it has opened the door to a fascinating field of analysis linking public health and politics in an era of waning European dominance."—ISIS: The Journal of the History of Science in Society
"Egypt's Other Wars demonstrates well the intimate linkage between public health, socioeconomic conditions, and national and international politics."—Middle East Journal

Description

Three devastating epidemics swept Egypt in the 1940’s killing more people than all the wars Egypt has fought in the twentieth century. Egypt’s Other Wars vividly reconstructs the nation’s struggle against malaria, relapsing fever, and cholera and explores the unique combination of forces that put public health at the top of the national political agenda.

Egypt in the 1940’s as in the throes of a nationalist upheaval. Nationalists of all political ideologies attributed the sever epidemics that the country was experiencing to Egypt’s status as an underdeveloped and colonized nation. The epidemics were therefore viewed for the first time as not only a public health crisis but also a political problem that called for a political solution.

About the Author

Nancy Elizabeth Gallagher is associate professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of Medicine and Power in Tunisia, 1780-1900.