{"product_id":"unknown-past-1","title":"Unknown Past","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA biography of the \"Cinderella\" of Egyptian cinema—the veneration and rumors that surrounded an unparalleled career, and the gendered questions that unsettled Egyptian society.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLayla Murad (1918-1995) was once the highest-paid star in Egypt, and her movies were among the top-grossing in the box office. She starred in 28 films, nearly all now classics in Arab musical cinema. In 1955 she was forced to stop acting—and struggled for decades for a comeback. Today, even decades after her death, public interest in her life continues, and new generations of Egyptians still love her work. \u003ci\u003eUnknown Past\u003c\/i\u003e recounts Murad's extraordinary life—and the rapid political and sociocultural changes she witnessed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHanan Hammad writes a story centered on Layla Murad's persona and legacy, and broadly framed around a gendered history of twentieth-century Egypt. Murad was a Jew who converted to Islam in the shadow of the first Arab-Israeli war. Her career blossomed under the Egyptian monarchy and later gave a singing voice to the Free Officers and the 1952 Revolution. The definitive end of her cinematic career came under Nasser on the eve of the 1956 Suez War. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEgyptians have long told their national story through interpretations of Murad's life, intertwining the individual and Egyptian state and society to better understand Egyptian identity. As \u003ci\u003eUnknown Past\u003c\/i\u003e recounts, there's no life better than Murad's to reflect the tumultuous changes experienced over the dramatic decades of the mid-twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Hanan Hammad","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43573251604662,"sku":"9781503629776","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0251\/4980\/0541\/files\/9781503629776_4206a038-4f39-4055-88f6-399a3bacf6cb.jpg?v=1727357310","url":"https:\/\/combined-academic.myshopify.com\/products\/unknown-past-1","provider":"Combined Academic Publishers - Mare Nostrum Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}