Books in Brief: The Last Pharaoh, Farouk of Egypt

The Last Pharaoh, Farouk of Egypt, by Hugh McLeave (McCall, 314 pp., $7.95).

“Each of us,” observed the Aga Khan, “is . . . composed of many diverse and conflicting elements; seldom in one human being has the mingling been more complex and more contradictory than in this illstarred yet amiable and talented king.” Not many of those who knew the late King Farouk of Egypt spoke so kindly of him, yet, after reading Hugh McLeave’s new biography, one is inclined to go along with the wise Aga—at least half way. Mr. McLeave writes a story that is interesting on two planes. It is primarily personal, a study in the decay of an individual who was incapable of meeting the challenges he was born to. In itself, this is story enough, for Farouk emerges as a royal Caliban, half pitiful, half grotesque, and very much the victim of circumstances. McLeave goes even further, maintaining that, beyond circumstances, a serious glandular condition deserves much of the blame for the mountainous monarch’s physical bulk and excessive appetites. His case is speculative, but, glands aside, Farouk in retrospect seems more an object of pity than horror, anyway. The second plane of interest is historical. With a world on the brink of war over the Middle East, it is ironic to recall how makeshift and accidental was the coup that launched Nasser toward power and sent poor, flabby Farouk packing. The whole thing was a third-rate imitation of the Young Turk movement, badly acted, and there is some doubt whether the wretched fellahin of 1970 find life much different than at the nadir of Farouk’s admittedly seamy reign. After the smoke had cleared and the coup was complete, Farouk summed it up with surprising lucidity. “The Soviet Union,” he said, “could do no more in Europe so it had to turn to Africa. It wanted a free hand in Egypt so that it could take over the rest of North Africa, carry out a huge pincer movement and make the Mediterranean a Russian lake.” The plan seems to be working.

AB

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Aram Bakshian Jr.

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The Last Pharaoh, Farouk of Egypt, by Hugh McLeave (McCall, 314 pp., $7.95).

“Each of us,” observed the Aga Khan, “is . . . composed of many diverse and conflicting elements; seldom in one human being has the mingling been more complex and more contradictory than in this illstarred yet amiable and talented king.” Not many of those who knew the late King Farouk of Egypt spoke so kindly of him, yet, after reading Hugh McLeave’s new biography, one is inclined to go along with the wise Aga—at least half way. Mr. McLeave writes a story that is interesting on two planes. It is primarily personal, a study in the decay of an individual who was incapable of meeting the challenges he was born to. In itself, this is story enough, for Farouk emerges as a royal Caliban, half pitiful, half grotesque, and very much the victim of circumstances. McLeave goes even further, maintaining that, beyond circumstances, a serious glandular condition deserves much of the blame for the mountainous monarch’s physical bulk and excessive appetites. His case is speculative, but, glands aside, Farouk in retrospect seems more an object of pity than horror, anyway. The second plane of interest is historical. With a world on the brink of war over the Middle East, it is ironic to recall how makeshift and accidental was the coup that launched Nasser toward power and sent poor, flabby Farouk packing. The whole thing was a third-rate imitation of the Young Turk movement, badly acted, and there is some doubt whether the wretched fellahin of 1970 find life much different than at the nadir of Farouk’s admittedly seamy reign. After the smoke had cleared and the coup was complete, Farouk summed it up with surprising lucidity. “The Soviet Union,” he said, “could do no more in Europe so it had to turn to Africa. It wanted a free hand in Egypt so that it could take over the rest of North Africa, carry out a huge pincer movement and make the Mediterranean a Russian lake.” The plan seems to be working.