[EGYPTIAN SOCIALISM] Târîkh al-tabaqah al-âmilah al-Misrîyah: Mundhu nash'atiha hatta thawrat 1919. [i.e. A history of the Egyptian working class: From its inception until the 1919 Revolution].

AMÎN IZZ AL-DIN, (1921-2001).

Dâr al-Kâtib al-'Arabî lil-Tibâ'ah wa-al-Nashr, [Edition With No Date: circa 1967], Al-Qâhirah (Cairo), 1967.

First book of three of the first edition of this early set on Egyptian working class and Arabian labour, printed in Cairo by one of the pioneer intellectual Amin Izz al-Din, (1921-2001). This rare book includes the formative period of the Egyptian working class especially between the years 1882-1919, from the British occupation of Egypt in 1882 which was crystallized many of the economic trends which had been maturing since the era of Muhammad Ali Pasha of Kavala (1769-1849), to Tawra [i.e. The Egyptian Revolution of 1919] which was a countrywide revolution against the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan. It was carried out by Egyptians from different walks of life in the wake of the British-ordered exile of the revolutionary Egyptian Nationalist leader Saad Zaghlul, and other members of the Wafd Party in 1919. Before the Revolution, by 1914 foreign capital represented 70 per cent of the total capital invested in Egypt. According to Izz al-Din, from 1899 to 1903 at least eight workers' associations were formed, mainly under Greek, Italian and Armenian leadership. But the steady expansion of capitalist relations of production in Egypt and the continuing British occupation provided the conditions which soon led to the appearance of native Egyptian working-class organization and leadership. The crash of 1907 produced a sharp rise in the cost of living and provided the economic incentive for another round of working-class struggle. At the same time, the Egyptian national movement was about to assert itself as a significant new political force. The conjuncture of these factors was the basis for sustained struggle and organization of native Egyptian workers. [.] The strike wave led to the formation of new and more soundly organized unions. There were 43 trade unions functioning in 1919-1920: 19 in Cairo, 18 in Alexandria, and 6 in Port Said, Damietta, Damanhour and Mahalla al-Kubra. [.] In the mid-1920s many enterprises fired workers and attempted, with some success, to disregard or revise agreements reached with trade unions in the first years after the 1919 uprising. There were series of strikes in 1927 in response to these actions - the Alexandria Water Company, Alexandria Tram Company, railway porters, silk weavers, Cairo cigarette workers and Suez Canal workers at Port Said. But by 1927 the number of trade unions had dropped to 62 with a total membership of somewhat more than 21,000. (Source: Formation of the Egyptian Working Class / MERIP). Amin Izz al-Din was a thinker and historian of the Egyptian trade union movement and a prominent historian of the Egyptian labour movement. He was one of the most prominent popular and labour leaders, and he has spent his life serving this movement. Izz al-Din held various leadership positions in the interest of workers and social security, as well as political organizations, as he previously worked in the Office of Arab Affairs at the Presidency of the Republic, and contributed to drafting labour legislation in 1970 and laying the foundations on which the Federation of Egyptian Workers was based. Bachelor of Arts from Cairo University, and a Masters degree from Oxford University British Labour Studies: A number of books have been written, foremost of which is "The History of the Egyptian Working Class", in 3 parts. 

Half leather bound in Egyptian style raised six bands to spine, Arabic lettered gilt in second and fourth. 'Abdelzehar Bnding' stamp on back endpaper. Demy 8vo. (21 x 14 cm). In Arabic. 213, [1] p. OCLC 23517320.