Mohamed El-Bendary is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Egyptian descent who has lived and worked in five different continents. Residing in Egypt during the upheavals of 2010, he interviews ordinary people and analyzes the role of the media in tumultuous times.

He has taught journalism and international relations in the United States and New Zealand. He holds an MA in journalism and public affairs from the American University in Washington, D.C.; a Postgraduate Certificate in Arabic–English translation studies from the University of Westminster in London; and a BA in media communications from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Mr. El-Bendary has worked as an independent journalist and published nearly 100 articles in major American newspapers, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, and Editor & Publisher magazine, among others. He is author of The “Ugly American” in the Arab Mind: Why Do Arabs Resent America (Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2011) and The Egyptian Press and Coverage of Local and International Events (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2010).

The author examines how Egyptians have received the 2011 Egyptian Revolution and its progress in the two years that followed Hosni Mubarak's demise, from the moment the revolution erupted on January 25 to late in February of 2013 when protests...

The author examines how Egyptians have received the 2011 Egyptian Revolution and its progress in the two years that followed Hosni Mubarak's demise, from the moment the revolution erupted on January 25 to late in February of 2013 when protests calling for the downfall of President Mohamed Morsi were mounted in various major Egyptian cities. Since Egypt under Mubarak was America's stalwart ally in the Arab world, throughout the book the text also touches on American-Egyptian relations and whether Egyptians can achieve their dream of establishing a stable democratic state without U.S. economic assistance or "U.S. meddling" in their country's internal affairs. Embracing a discourse analysis approach, the book consists of two parts. Part I documents the events of the Friday of Anger, police withdrawal and the vigilantes, Black Wednesday (known among Egyptians as the Battle of the Camel), and the Friday of Departure. One chapter focuses on the social media and its role in the revolution. Part II focuses on the aftermath of the revolution, covering the constitutional amendment, the trial of Mubarak, the presidential debate, Morsi's ascendance to power and the challenges he faced in his first eight months in office. Coverage of such a crucial period in the history of a strategically important nation such as Egypt, written by someone stationed there, makes this book a vital read, not only for the ordinary reader but for university students, public officials, and those who have an interest in Middle Eastern politics, history, and culture. The material also offers insights to help interpret events unfolding elsewhere in the Middle East and assessing U.S. involvement. While there are other books out there on the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, none of them inclusively covers its aftermath -- two years of events. Furthermore, the author wrote this in-depth work while in Egypt, offering not only the media's opinion on the issue but also conducting many interviews with ordinary Egyptians.