Max Rodenbeck

Rodenbeck started writing in the English-language press in Egypt in the 1980s, and also contributed to a number of tour guides such as the Insight series volumes on Cairo, Egypt and The Nile. He began covering Egypt and the Middle East as a stringer for The Economist in 1988, while also writing as a freelancer for the Financial Times, Middle East International, The Cairo Times and numerous other publications. In 2000 he was appointed Middle East Bureau Chief for The Economist, covering the region from Iran to Morocco.[10] During his 15 [11] years in the post he covered events ranging from the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the US occupation of Iraq,[12] to the failed revolutions of 2009 in Iran,[13] and the Arab Spring in 2011.[14] Notably, Rodenbeck's reportage in 2010 correctly predicted the eruption of the Arab Spring. [15] Since January 2016 he has been South Asia Bureau Chief for The Economist, based in Delhi.

Rodenbeck's historical portrait of Egypt's capital, Cairo: The City Victorious, was first published by Picador in the UK, and Alfred A. Knopf in New York, where it met wide critical acclaim. The work "traces the life of Cairo from birth...through the heights of medieval splendor, and on to the present day".[16] In its review of the book, The Washington Post Book World described 'Cairo' as "an enormously entertaining read… Rodenbeck's lively and affectionate portrait…veers easily between past and present, personal and historical."[17] The book was cited as "a book to read" by the New York Review of Books,[18] as one of the five best travel books of the year by The Sunday Times, and "the most authoritative and entertaining read on the convoluted and picturesque 1000-year history of the Egyptian capital” by Lonely Planet. [19]Cairo: The City Victorious has since been translated into eight languages.