War and trade with the Pharaohs - Garry J. Shaw

War and Trade with the Pharaohs is an exceptional book by Egyptian archaeology expert Garry Shaw, which challenges the traditional view of Egypt as a unique and superior nation which imposed its own cultural traits on the rest of the world.
Garry Shaws unconventional approach views Egypt from the outside through their trade networks and external wars as a means by which to examine the supposedly unique nature of Egyptian culture.
Examining Egypt from the viewpoint of their relationships with neighbouring nations allows Shaw to escape the common myth of a dominant Egypt promulgated by the Egyptians themselves. Instead we discover the ways in which the Egyptians imported aspects of surrounding cultures, influencing and shaping their own culture at the same time as working to influence that of the surrounding nations.