Wendell Steavenson wrote for The New Yorker from Cairo for more than a year during the Egyptian revolution. She has spent most of the past decade and a half reporting from the Middle East and the Caucasus for the Guardian, Prospect magazine, Slate, Granta and other publications. Steavenson has written two previous books, both critically acclaimed: Stories I Stole, about post-Soviet Georgia, and The Weight of a Mustard Seed, about life and morality in Saddam's Iraq and the aftermath of the American invasion. She was also a 2014 Nieman Fellow at Harvard. Steavenson currently lives in Paris.
Reviews
“Few books are better than this one at conveying the confusion and excitement of those days on the square.” — New York Times Book Review
“Steavenson weaves together a mosaic portrait that tightly focuses on the people…of the revolution.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“[Steavenson] creates a vibrant sense of being on the ground in Cairo…” — Los Angeles Times
“There is much to praise in her evocative, impressionistic sketches of the stirring events in Egypt…Her actual writing is first-rate. She cares deeply about her subjects but her critical acuity and keen sense of humor see through their foibles and contradictions.” — Washington Times
“A moving, empathetic portrayal of a central movement of our time: the brave Egyptian people’s attempt to end repression without the tools or the leaders to succeed.” — Library Journal
“Impassioned coverage from the front lines of a historic Middle Eastern uprising… An intensive firsthand exploration of modern Egyptian liberation and solidarity.” — Kirkus
