THE YOUNG ALEXANDRIANS

By A.C. Metaxas

Hardback

OUT NOW

A POWERFUL SAGA OF FRIENDSHIP, LOVE, WAR AND DISPOSSESION

Two young Alexandrians experience the Palestine/Israeli conflict in all its complexity from adolescence through to adulthood finally finding themselves as aid workers in the Gaza Strip on the eve of Nakba Day as Israel celebrates the announcement of US’s intention to transfer their Embassy to Jerusalem. To Israelis the excitement cannot easily be put into words as it is the culmination of a fulfillment long sought after. To the countless Palestinian refugees in the Strip it results in intense anger and helplessness as it confirms the long-held suspicion that returning to their homeland is but a dream.

Ricky (A.C.) Metaxas was born in Cairo and attended secondary school in Alexandria’s Averofeio Gymnasium. He is an engineering graduate of London University, completing his doctorate at Imperial College, and holds a Life Fellowship at St John’s College, Cambridge. A lifetime in research and academe has resulted in two named awards, a lifetime achievement award, membership of Bologna’s Scientific Academy, two technical books on energy utilisation, the foundation of a European association and numerous peer-reviewed publications in his field of study. The author became aware of the plight of the Palestinians as an adolescent in Alexandria during the years following the Suez War. It is a subject that has preoccupied him for over half a century culminating in this novel.

While reading this book, one is captivated by the story of the principal figure and the living conditions of entire populations. This is a story based on the memories and experiences of a group of friends that grew up and came of age in the multinational environment of Alexandria. A novel that navigates the reader closer to the reality and the problems in the Levant. A story where friendship does not depend on nationality nor religion. Truth and fantasy alternate in this novel from the beginning to the end. - Dinos Carayannis

This novel is a fantastic story, a mixture of real events, facts, emotions and dreams. The way it is written, namely going back and forth in time with the lives and happenings of the same persons creates the necessary tension. At certain points it becomes almost a thriller...the text breathes the very essence of Alexandria. - Sakis Stergiou