{"product_id":"unknown-past-layla-murad-the-jewish-muslim-star-of-egypt-9781503629776","title":"Unknown Past: Layla Murad, the Jewish-Muslim Star of Egypt","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 \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 \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 \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\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHanan Hammad\u003c\/b\u003e is Associate Professor and Director of Middle East Studies at Texas Christian University. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eIndustrial Sexuality: Gender, Urbanization, and Social Transformation in Egypt\u003c\/i\u003e (2016), which won prizes from the National Women's Studies Association, the Association for Middle East Women's Studies, and the Arab American Book Awards.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Stanford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50482694979858,"sku":"9781503629776","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_93cac46c-a9bb-4ed3-afd2-4bb3387d3bbf.jpg?v=1730349710","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/unknown-past-layla-murad-the-jewish-muslim-star-of-egypt-9781503629776","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}