Ever since the first intrepid European explorers ventured up the Nile, an eclectic crowd of tourists, soldiers, fortune-seekers, tomb-raiders and empire-builders has travelled to Egypt. Whether sparked by its rich history and compelling landscapes, the elusive ruins of a once-magnificent civilisation or the country's strategic importance in world politics, the west's fascination with Egypt has flourished over that past two centuries. In a fast-paced narrative, richly adorned with gossip, anecdote and adventure, Anthony Sattin illuminates the passions and intrigues of an extraordinary cast of characters. From Florence Nightingale to Lord Nelson, Giovanni Belzoni to Howard Carter, Somerset Maugham to E.M. Forster and Gustave Flaubert to Noel Coward, they scrambled up the pyramids, floated down the Nile, partied on the terrace of Shepheard's Hotel, plotted, ransacked, lived, loved and were forever changed by their experience - as Egypt was by them.