Unfortunately, “Inside Egypt” often lacks a sense of balance in its criticisms of the Egyptian government. Sometimes the reader wonders if the author is an official spokesman for King Farouk, the nominal monarch of Egypt before he was kicked out of the country by Nasser in 1952. As harshly as Bradley criticizes the government, he makes very little attempt to seek out their views in interviews.

A second criticism, which may explain the first further, is the absence of written Arabic sources. Because of his knowledge of spoken Egyptian Arabic, Bradley is able to gain a degree of access and understanding of Egyptian society that most foreign journalists cannot. But true immersion in the society cannot be achieved solely through conversations in colloquial Arabic.