I've been going through a self study class about on the history of ancient Egypt, and they briefly touched on Napoleon's expedition to Egypt with a group of scholars and scientists of all kinds. This really interests me, and I'm trying to find a book that goes into more detail about the expedition itself, but most of them focus on the military campaign rather than the beginning of Egyptology. Does anyone have a suggestion for a book that focuses on the historical aspects of Napoleon's expedition?
So far, I've looked into "Napoleon in Egypt", "Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt", "Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East", "Memoirs of Napoleon's Egyptian Expedition 1798-1801", and "The Discovery of Egypt: Vivant Denon's Travels with Napoleon's Army".
The last on that list is the most promising because it follows who I think is the "lead scholar", but there are very few reviews for it.
I thought Juan Cole's book was pretty good- though I see it on your list already.
Its focus is definitely more geo-political and on Napoleon's ambitions with the expedition. It does a good job of looking at Napoleon's odd relationship with Islam and French views of Egypt- especially their disappointment. The classical civilization they imagined was gone and tales of magnificence and beauty evaporated under the desert sun. Endemic disease and epidemics thinned out the French forces, just as Bedouin nomads ambushed patrols and restless townspeople slit the throats of careless soldiers; the excitement generated by erotic fantasies of harem women or pretty, young girls lounging nude in the town quickly abated. In my opinion, book is definitely reflective and informed by of the US occupation of Iraq ('04) and the sort of malaise or disappointment found when a force that saw itself as liberating became in the minds of the populace more akin to occupying.
This is a newer look at the expedition and opens with * “[Napoleon's] primary purpose was to liberate the Egyptians from the oppressive rule of the Mamelukes. But this was only the beginning. Along with his soldiers he had brought with him a team of 167 hand-picked ‘savants’; these consisted of the young intellectual cream of France, comprising many of the country’s finest mathematicians, scientists, artists, writers, and inventors.”* Strathern definitely goes into the Egyptology stuff- but also deals extensively with the occupation of Cairo. I think he might be more along the lines of what you are looking for since he focuses on the savants and the wider effects that the Egyptian expedition had on French scholarship, fashion, and culture.
Some of the essays in the collection might appeal to you as well. It has a great variety of historiography essays- looking at the expedition from the point of view of Egyptian history, or Ottoman history.
Perhaps one of the great polemical works on Napoleon's expedition to Egypt comes from Edward Said- so its hard not to insert Orientalism as a worthwhile thought piece. Said is particularly concerned with how this expedition and the savants who came along with it open up a new kind of orientalism.
I haven't read the last book on your list- but it does sound like a good biography. Might check that out when I have time.