Noha el‎-Mikawy explores the changes that have been occurring in Egypt‎'‎s political system over the past 30 years ‎- three very important decades in the country‎'‎s transition from authoritarian rule to democracy‎.‎ By focusing on consensus‎-building as analytically central to the transition process‎,‎ el‎-Mikawy has picked up an original and very fruitful vein in the theoretical debate about the politics of transition and democracy‎.‎ Her account of the inner workings and ideological divisions among the country‎'‎s major political parties provides a wealth of detail for the 1980s and early 1990s‎.‎ This book marks a breakthrough in the conspiracy of silence affecting the inclusion of the Egyptian experience as an empirical reference point in the theoretical literature of transition‎.‎ REC00281018 Christianity arrived early in Egypt‎,‎ brought ‎- according to tradition ‎-by Saint Mark the Evangelist‎,‎ who became the first patriarch of Alexandria‎.‎ The Coptic Orthodox Church has flourished ever since‎,‎ with millions of adherents both in Egypt and in Coptic communities around the world‎.‎ since its split from Byzantine Church in 451‎,‎ the Coptic Church has proudly maintained its early traditions‎,‎ and influence from outside has been minimal‎:‎ the liturgy is still sung to unique rhythms in Coptic‎,‎ a late stage of the ancient Egyptian language inscribed in hieroglyphs on temple walls and papyri‎.‎