Death of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s longest serving ruler in more than 150 years

Hosni Mubarak, who died on Tuesday at 91, ruled Egypt for longer than any of the country’s other monarchs and presidents since the demise in 1848 of Muhammad Ali, the Turkish pasha who, during his 43-year reign, began the modernisation of this ancient land. Mr Mubarak succeeded Mr Anwar Sadat, president-for-life, a week after his assassination by Islamist militants on October 6th, 1981, and was toppled by 18 days of deadly popular protests in early 2011. He was tried and sentenced to prison for ordering the crackdown that killed 845 demonstrators and for corruption, but charges were ultimately dropped and he was freed in 2017. Mr Mubarak inherited an Egypt where the economy was in crisis,...