Reading order#
| # |
Title |
Published |
Author |
Buy on Amazon |
| 1 |
The City Always Wins |
2017 |
Omar Robert Hamilton |
Buy |
Omar Robert Hamilton’s standalone fiction draws on his years living in Cairo during and after the 2011 Egyptian revolution. His debut novel, The City Always Wins (2017), is a visceral account of the uprising told through the eyes of young activists caught between hope and brutality.
The novel was published by Faber & Faber in the UK and MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the US. It won the Betty Trask Award for best debut by a writer under 35 and the Prix de Litterature Arabe. The Boston Globe named it a Book of the Year. Hamilton brought a documentary filmmaker’s eye to the story, having spent years on the ground in Cairo with the Mosireen media collective before turning to fiction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The City Always Wins about?
The City Always Wins is set during the 2011 Egyptian revolution and its chaotic aftermath. It follows a group of activists in Cairo as they navigate mass protests, military crackdowns, personal loss, and the struggle to keep fighting when the odds turn against them.
Is The City Always Wins based on real events?
Yes. Omar Robert Hamilton moved to Cairo during the 2011 revolution and co-founded the Mosireen media collective to document the uprising. The novel draws heavily on his firsthand experience of the protests, the violence, and the political turmoil that followed.
Has Omar Robert Hamilton written other novels?
As of now, The City Always Wins is his only published novel. Hamilton is also a filmmaker and essayist who has written for the Guardian, the London Review of Books, and other publications.