Nasser's 1952 coup d'etat initiated a revolution regarded as the most important in the modern history of the Arabs and seen as a model that was emulated by many Third World leaders seeking radical transformation of their countries. It is considered to be a historic watershed between Egypt's ancient regime - dominated by the palace, the landed Pashas, the British interests, and the foreign communities - and the populist republic run as a military-bureaucratic system by a purely Egyptian elite. Now, four decades after that landmark event, leading scholars offer a fresh look at the levels of continuity and change in the social, political, and economic structures of Egypt since the revolution. Contributors examine such questions as: How did the fundamental relationship between Islam and the state change under Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak? What has been accomplished by Nasser's revolutionary strategies of economic and social development? How were the status and role of minorities affected? In what ways does the present-day fundamentalist movement differ from its predecessors of the monarchy period? How deep is the process of value-system transformation in the Egyptian mainstream? And, what was the role of intellectuals and the media in the process of change? A final section discusses how the treatment of foreign policy issues, including the conflict with Israel, changed under the different regimes.