Once upon a revolution

Thanassis Cambanis

"An award-winning journalist tells the inside story of the 2011 Egyptian revolution by following two courageous and pivotal leaders--and their imperfect decisions that changed the world. In January 2011, in Cairo's Tahrir Square, a group of strangers sparked a revolution. Basem, an apolitical middle-class architect, jeopardized the lives of his family when he seized the chance to improve his country. Moaz, a contrarian Muslim Brother, defied his own organization to join the opposition. These revolutionaries had little more than their idealism with which to battle the secret police, the old oligarchs, and a power-hungry military determined to keep control. Basem was determined to change the system from within and became one of the only revolutionaries to win a seat in parliament. Moaz took a different course, convinced that only street pressure from youth movements could dismantle the...