Topping coverage of Egypt in the foreign press this morning are repeated wire pickups of Egypt’s debt growing to USD 88.2 bn in 3Q2017-18.

As David Kirkpatrick’s book on the upheavals in Egypt between 2011 and 2013 hit the stands yesterday, and reviews and commentary have begun flooding the foreign press. NPR’s Terry Gross had a lengthy chat with Kirkpatrick about the book, focusing specifically on the former New York Times Cairo bureau chief’s analysis of how successive US administrations have “contributed to chaos in Egypt.” Kirkpatrick is particularly critical of the Obama administration for how it handled the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi. According to Kirkpatrick, there was a large amount of “discord” within the administration’s top brass on the issue, which culminated in the White House “watching Arab democracy fall.”

In a review for the NYT, veteran Cairo hand Steve Negus writes of Kirkpatrick’s “engrossing account” of the events from the 2011 revolution until the 2013 uprising that brought President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to power. “‘Into the Hands of the Soldiers’ is a journalist’s eye view, not a comprehensive history. Kirkpatrick ignores or skips quickly through key grievances of the anti-Morsi movement, both the contrived … and the genuine,” Negus says, but is still an exceptional work: “Kirkpatrick gives an unmatched blow-by-blow of the Obama administration’s Egypt diplomacy” and draws on “extensive interviews with Egyptian officials and with Morsi’s aides.”

Judge for yourself: You can order your own copy of the book here.