Nazis on the Nile: The German Military Advisers in Egypt, 1949-1967: Caabu Book Launch with Vyvyan Kinross

Caabu invites you to an in person briefing with Vyvyan Kinross, author, expert in government communications, and Caabu board member, who will discuss his new book, Nazis on the Nile: The German Military Advisers in Egypt 1949-1967, on Tuesday 5 March 2024 at 6pm at The Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE.

Please RSVP with Joseph Willits at Caabu ([email protected]) to attend. Please note that this briefing is in person only. A previous email incorrectly stated that this was 'online' in the header. 

Nazis on the Nile: The German Military Advisers in Egypt 1949-1967, published by Nomad Publishing can be purchased here. Books by Caabu speakers can be purchased here through Caabu's affiliate page on Bookshop.org. Caabu receives 10% of any purchase made as does an independent book shop. 

When: Tuesday 5 March 2024, 18:00 

Where: Boardroom, The Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE. Transport and further instructions on how to get here can be found here.

Previous Caabu briefings can be watched in this playlist here.

Caabu has created an affiliate page on Bookshop. This means, that with any purchase through this site, 10% of the sale price will be sent to us and another 10% will go to support local bookshops. We think this is a great way to support Caabu's work and independent bookshops across the country. More details about it can be found here.

• Buy books written by Vyvan Kinross, including Nazis on the Nile in this section of the Caabu bookshop. 
• Buy other books from previous online Caabu briefings here and from physical events we've hosted here. 
• Titles written by Caabu board members and patrons can be found here, as can others written by those who have spoken at Caabu events here. 

We hope you enjoy reading any of these titles, and supporting Caabu in the process.

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About the book:

Seventy years on from the Egyptian revolution and Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser’s vision of a new post-colonial Middle East, Nazis on the Nile reveals the full extent of the involvement of German and former Nazi specialists in building his military and security state.

Mining a wide variety of sources including British and US government records, and CIA files released under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, Vyvyan Kinross paints a compelling portrait of a country rearming and re-equipping for the Cold War and rocket age with the help of former German Wehrmacht soldiers, missile scientists, engineers, arms manufacturers, arms dealers and propagandists, all seeking fresh opportunities after the collapse of the Third Reich. The book shows how: 

• German Special Forces veterans trained Egypt’s irregulars, paramilitaries and the Fedayeen to fight the British in the Suez Canal Zone and the Israelis in Gaza
• If they had been given executive authority and battlefield command, German commanders might have changed outcomes in Egypt’s favour 
• The British detected Nazi tactics of subversion in Egyptian foreign policy, propaganda and intelligence operations   
• Egypt used coercive methods to persuade its Jewish population to leave after the Suez crisis of 1956

What they say about ‘Nazis on the Nile’ :

‘A chilling, punch-packing tale told with great aplomb’, Justin Marozzi, The Spectator

‘A fascinating and disturbing book’, James Barr, The Critic

‘A thrilling romp through a hidden episode in post-war Arab history’, Michael Karam

About the speaker:

Vyvyan Kinross is an expert in government communications and a former UN Senior Adviser to the Palestinian Authority and consultant to the Government of Abu Dhabi. Also a former journalist, Vyvyan has worked across the Middle East since the late 1970s. He reported from Iraq during Saddam’s war against the Ayatollah’s revolutionary Iran and went on to help Afghanistan’s new Counter Narcotics Directorate develop a communications strategy as part of the UK’s capacity building programme there. Vyvyan was living and working in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi during the events of the Arab Spring in 2011. He is the author of ‘Information Warriors, the Battle for Hearts and Minds in the Middle East’ first published by Gilgamesh in 2020 (ISBN 9781908531650) and is a graduate in Modern Arabic Studies from the University of Durham. Vyvyan has been a member of the Executive Board of the Council for Arab British Understanding for eight years and a Caabu member since shortly after graduation in 1974. 

A previous online briefing Vyvyan did with Caabu can be watched here.

He Tweets: @vyvyankinross.

Caabu is a not-for-profit cross-party organisation whose mission is to work for a British Middle East policy that promotes conflict resolution, human rights and civil society in the Arab world through informed debate and mutual understanding. Caabu is one of the most active NGOs working on the Middle East in British parliament since its establishment in 1967. From then on Caabu has assumed an active advocacy, educational and media role. 

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