An exploration of the problem of creativity in the Arab and African world focusing on Moroccan Cinema and one of its key figures, filmmaker Muhammad Abderrahman Tazi. Themes discussed include filmmaking in postcolonial Morocco and the relationship between Moroccan cinema, the third world and the global film industry. Illustrated with b/w photographs and stills. Index, notes, 433pp, USA. INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS.

A collection of photographs focusing on the religious traditions and social life of Coptic Christians. BNS, 128pp, EGYPT. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO.

Presents in full colour photographs Egypt's monuments and fabulous treasures now available in a user-friendly, compact format at an astonishingly low price. Here are the pyramids of Giza and Saqqara, and the temples and tombs of Thebes. Here too are the less well-known sites and cities of the Delta, the Faiyum, Sinai and Nubia. The stunning images are accompanied by a wide-ranging text, giving an overview of 5,000 years of Egyptian history from the first pharaohs to the modern republic. Index, gloss, 291pp, UK. THAMES & HUDSON.

A collection of photographs evoking the varied and vivid interiors of Egypt. 191pp, UK. TASCHEN.

This book of extraordinary photographs of the other side of Egypt is the result of the more than three years that Italian photojournalist Silvia Dogliani has spent in the country, travelling, meeting people, and looking out for the unexpected. Through her pictures, she presents a remarkable portrait of Egypt, avoiding the well known history and the popular views, focusing instead on life as it is. BNS, 250pp, EGYPT. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO.

From 1964 onwards much of the ancient land of Nubia sank in the waters of Lake Nasser, behind the new Aswan Dam. In the company of friends and artists, the author made numerous extended visits to capture in her artwork a lifestyle that has now vanished. BNS, illustrated, 168pp, EGYPT. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO.

John Feeney arrived in Egypt in 1963 intending to stay a year. Instead he stayed forty. This book brings together some of his now rare colour photographs of Egypt, recently displayed in a retrospective in March 2005 at the American University in Cairo's Sony Gallery. BNS, EGYPT. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO.

This photographic record of diverse street images in Cairo reflects three distinctive cultures and visual styles in contemporary Egypt, ancient imagery, international style and Arabic calligraphy. 112pp, UK. THAMES & HUDSON, 0500284334