The Making of an Egyptian Arab Nationalist: The Early Years of Azzam Pasha, 1893-1936

This book is a study of the life and thought of Abd al-Rahman Azzam -- the man who was to become the first Secretary-Secretary-General of the Arab League. It provides a richly textured portrait of Azzam's life, and also delineates the development and nature of the Arab nationalism which he adopted in the period between the two world wars. In his book Coury takes issue with much existing scholarly research, choosing to view Azzam's Arab nationalism as a mixture of illusory representations and genuine insight -- a new ideology that drew on long-lived elements within Egyptian culture, including a sense of kinship based on the Arabic language.

Ralph M. Coury is Associate Professor of History at Fairfield University in Connecticut.