The present book, while accepting the assumption that Britain did indeed view Mehmed Ali's activities suspiciously and that her policies as represented and pursued by Lord Palmerston were, in fact, instrumental in curbing Mehmed Ali's power, does not unproblematically assume that the reason for this hostile stance was its fear of the Pasha's industrial schemes. Rather, it argues that Mehmed Ali's imperialist expansion over wide areas of the Ottoman Empire seriously challenged Britain's more ambitious imperialist designs and was regarded in London and Bombay as a threat to Britain's possessions in Asia, her communications with India and her influence in Istanbul.

Pays off: "Egyptian context explains the gap between plan and execution."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 41