OR Books has recently released a unique and timely, to say the least, book on the recent Egyptian revoltion. Tweets from Tahrir covers the recent uprising using the tweets of the activists and people who witnessed it firsthand. In many cases this is same reporting the we relied on here to help cover the breaking news ourselves.
The book has already garnered lots of attention from the likes of the New Yorker and the New York Times, which has been drawn as much to the innovative publishing approach as to the content itself.
I have to admit I was curious, and doubtful, when I first head about the concept for the book. As much as I am tethered to twitter following news from the Arab uprisings, I wasn’t sure curated tweets would read as a cohesive and coherent narrative. Luckily, OR has shared an excerpt with us and you can check it out for yourself.
Below is Chapter 18 from Tweets from Tahrir which covers the events of Thursday, February 10. It’s much easier to read it in “full screen” mode. Despite my reservations, I think it works, and certainly brings back memories from having read these tweets in real time. Let us know what you think in the comment section.
