After Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and the 1981 murder of Egypt's President Anwar al-Sadat, many observers thought radical Islamic fundamentalists would seize power in the Middle East and especially in Egypt. But these groups did not take over, foment revolutions or even become a threatening opposition. This book explains their failure in Egypt, the most important Arab country and a key Western ally and shows how the fundamentalists' weaknesses and divisions and the clever policies of Egypt's rulers led to their defeat.