In Praise of Books: A Cultural History of Cairo's Middle Class, Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century

by Nelly Hanna

Book Overview

In fine detail, the author explores economic influences on culture during periods of plenty and poverty. She examines the bond between commerce and escalating literacy via the building of schools, the availability of cheap paper, and the proliferation of books. And she assesses coffeehouses, storytellers, and phantom plays as a principal circuit for the spread of oral middle-class culture. Drawing on both published and unpublished sources, Hanna...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0815630360
• ISBN13: 9780815630364
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Syracuse University Press
• Length: 236 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.2"