Writing in the late 1960s, Aziz Atiya begins his magisterial account of the Coptic Church, in A History of Eastern Christianity with this reassuring assertion: “In our day, the Copts live everywhere side by side with their Muslim neighbours without discrimination, either political or racial; they enjoy their religious freedom, and their churches increase throughout Egypt. In sum, the Copts have survived as a religious entity, otherwise completely integrated within the body politic of the Egyptian nation, sharing the privileges and responsibilities of all citizens irrespective of faith or creed.”