SOURCE: “Breezing through Egypt,” in Times Literary Supplement, November 26, 1999, p. 13.

In the following review of The Civilization of Ancient Egypt, Ray commends Johnson's iconoclastic and well-illustrated book, but notes that parts of Johnson's account will likely “enrage” experts on the subject.

If you or your family are looking for an opinionated book about Ancient Egypt to read over Christmas, stop looking: Paul Johnson's revised account of early Egyptian history and culture is precisely what you need. There is no sign in The Civilization of Ancient Egypt of the don's favourite mindset, the academic tentative, and not much use for padding devices such as “perhaps,” “probably,” and “On the one hand,. … On the other,. ….” If the Ancient Egyptians made a mess of anything or were on a hiding to nowhere, this is the book to spell it out. They get beta minus, for example, for embalming people, and overall...