Abugideiri (History, Villanova University) examines the transformation of medicine and medical education in Egypt as the result of British colonization during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The author shows how colonial "reforms" merged two roughly co-equal medical institutions (one for men, one for women) into a single institution that privileged male physicians and subordinated the female fields of midwifery and nursing. In this way, Abugideiri argues, women's control over their professions and their bodies were subordinated to the needs of the modern state, which sanctioned (and encouraged) gender inequalities. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)