J W McPherson Author

J. W. McPherson lived in Egypt for 45 years, working as a teacher before the First World War, then serving with the Red Cross at Gallipoli, as a soldier with the Egyptian Camel Transport in Sinai and Palestine, as an Intelligence Officer in Cairo, and until his retirement in 1924 as Ma’mûr Zapt, the Director of the political Criminal Investigation Department for investigating political activists and secret societies. In retirement, he researched the religious festivals called moulids and wrote this book.; Russell McGuirk was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Johns Hopkins University, where he studied Modern Languages, including Arabic. He went on to specialize in Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. The Moulids of Egypt is his fourth book as a specialist in Arabic and in early 20th century Egyptian history.