Memoirs at the top are also in vogue on the Egyptian side, as President Sadat describes his own struggle against the British and then launches into a remarkably revealing (and self-serving) account of the internal conflicts and external failures of the Nasser regime which, for all its achievements, left a legacy of disaster. In covering his years as President he carries on his war of words with the Soviet Union and defends his turn to the United States and his direct approach to Israel.