Author Description

"From the late 1800s until World War II, the Jewish communities of Cairo and Alexandria were vibrant, prosperous, and dynamic elements of Egyptian society. Suddenly in the 1980s only a few hundred Jews remained in the entire country. Gudrun Krämer explores the reasons for the swift rise and rapid decline of this minority community in a Muslim land. Beginning with an examination of the communal structure and composition of Egyptian Jewry, she illuminates its diversity in religious rite, ethnic origin, language, and nationality."--Book Jacket.