"Pharos and Pharillon" by E. M. Forster is a 20th century book that will soon celebrate its 100th publication anniversary. Forster weaves a compelling tale that will keep readers unable to put the book down until they finish the last word. The sketches were written for the local Egyptian press and were also published in The Nation and Athenaeum, a British political newspaper owned by Leonard Woolf, husband of writer Virginia Woolf. The Woolfs published Pharos and Pharillon in 1923, and with its poignant accounts of the events and history of one of the first global cities, it remains an enlightening portrait, and a useful guidebook, into modern times.
