If it's possible for a book to be enjoyably boring, that's what this is. It's a bit padded - a lot of history about Muhammad Ali, Mameluke ruler of Egypt, description of the geography of the Nile, and so on. And the story is engaging enough, though not really of any major consequence. This is really a footnote in several stories, including that of colonial collections, European involvement in the Near East, Egyptology, and so on.
It was a nice enough read, and not at all emotionally taxing while just interesting enough to keep me engaged.
I note in passing that the author describes the mayors of small towns in the Rhone valley as wearing tricolour sashes - did they do that during the period of the Bourbon restoration, when the events described are supposed to be taking place?
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