When protesters in Egypt began to fill Cairos Tahrir Square on January 25thand refused to leave until their demand that Hosni Mubarak step down was metthe politics of the region changed overnight. And the United States long friendship with the man who had ruled under Emergency Law for thirty years came starkly into question.From Franklin D. Roosevelts brief meeting with King Farouk near the end of World War II to Barack Obamas Cairo Speech in 2009 and the recent fall of Mubarakthe most significant turning point in American foreign policy since the end of the Cold Warthis timely new book answers the urgent question of why Egypt has mattered so much to the United States. The Road to Tahrir Square is the first book to connect past and present, offering readers today an understanding of the events and forces determining American policy in this vitally important region.Making full use of the available recordsincluding the controversial Wikileaks archiverenowned historian Lloyd C. Gardner shows how the United States has sought to influence Egypt through economic aid, massive military assistance, and CIA manipulations, an effort that has immediate implications for how the current crisis will alter the balance of power in the Middle East. As millions of Americans ponder how the Egyptian revolution will change the face of the region and the world, here is both a fascinating story of past policies and an essential guide to possible futures.