Orientalists in uniform? British military encounters and experiences in Egypt, c1798-1801

This thesis examines the experiences of British soldiers and sailors during Britain’s military intervention in Egypt between 1798 and 1801. The operations which took place in these years have been examined in the literature from strategic and geopolitical perspectives, but they have not been appreciated in the context of travel writing or orientalism. This thesis considers whether the British armed forces were contributors to orientalism. Although military personnel were not ordinary travel writers or orientalists, they were undoubtedly influenced by popular travel and orientalist literature. Their different experiences produced accounts that showed a distinctive blend of military narrative, travelogue and orientalist analysis, which has not received the attention deserved.