Instead, this book, by concentrating on his army, the key institution around which all his reforms were centered, challenged the nationalist version of Egyptian history that sees in Mehmed Ali a proto-nationalist leader. It argued that the Pasha did not aim to achieve independence for "Egypt," but intended to carve out a small empire for himself and for his children after him. It also argued that Great Britain, who is usually taken to have opposed Mehmed Ali ferociously and to have "prevented Egypt from reaping the fruits of her military victories" was not antagonistic to the Pasha's "reform" policies in Egypt, but was against his empire-building efforts that she saw as challenging and endangering her own possessions in Asia.

Pays off: "Great-power rivalry turned Egypt's crisis into a European-balance matter."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 1686