An excellent and timely book from 1898. With Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you can't go wrong, but this narrative of an excursion on the river Nile is stunning in its parallels with the present. The characters have a great debate over the "world's policeman," Great Britain. The book relates a struggle with Mohammedans who are fierce and violent and behave as if they are still living in the 9th century. Just switch GB with USA and you have the story of US involvement in the Middle East. History sometimes repeats and this story gives tremendous insights.