Vroeger Was Alexandrië Prachtig

Eduard Cousin received a contribution for writing his new book called Vroeger Was Alexandrië Prachtig.

Alexandria captures our imagination: the city in Egypt closest to "us," to Europe. We consider Alexander the Great, the ancient library, Mark Antony and Cleopatra part of our history. But today's city is not in Europe; it is part of the Middle East. How does this work, being part of different worlds and switching between them throughout history? How do current Alexandrians view their city and its place in the world, how is the city viewed from Europe? What does this tell us about identity, about politics and about borders?

Eduard left ten years ago as a budding journalist for Egypt, which is now his second homeland. After a few years on editorial boards of Egyptian media, he started working as a freelance correspondent for Dutch and international media. He looks at the situation in the country with an Egyptian perspective, from the inside, knows how to connect it the regional and global context, and convey it to a Dutch audience. His first book came out in 2021 and describes the aftermath of the Arab Spring in Egypt from a human perspective.