Cairo, Black Saturday, 1952

Monday mornings start slow since I usually have E-mail and other things to catch up on in the morning, so to hold you over until I get back to blogging pace, I thought I'd offer some links dealing with the famous "Black Saturday" in Cairo in 1952, when Shepheards Hotel, the Turf Club, and other British institutions (and much besides: cinemas, bars, cafes) were burned in a day of rioting. An old friend looking for photos to illustrate a lecture asked me last week if I knew where he could get such photos, and after providing them to him, I hope he won't mind if I share them with you. All are from sites belonging to the blogger who blogs as "Zenobia" at Egyptian Chronicles. I've linked to her before a time or two.

First, here's a very interesting Flickr photostream of the fires and their aftermath. Secondly, one of her blogposts which includes a number of photos plus a couple of embedded videos. You don't need to buy into her interpretation (blaming the British rather than the Palace) to find the illustrations interesting.

I'll be checking in with more later today after I get caught up with the day job, but that gives you something to start with.