Three years ago, when U.S. propagandists in the Middle East sought to distribute an Arabic translation of LIFE'S picture history of the Hungarian revolt, Arabs would not take it as a gift. Last week, on the newsstands of Cairo, the same book was a runaway bestseller. Put out by the Egyptians—without even a credit line—it sold out its first press run of 150,000 copies in a few days, was to be seen everywhere, on Cairo's streets and trams, even in the mosques.
Egypt's belated interest in the 1956 Hungarian revolution (which coincided with the...