Maurice Challe In July 1956, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser took control of the Suez Canal, in violation of agreements he had signed with the British and French governments. On 14 October 1956, Challe visited British Prime Minister Anthony Eden at Chequers, accompanied by French Minister of Labor Albert Gazier. The two Frenchmen told Eden of the secret negotiations between Israel and France regarding a proposed Israeli attack on Egypt followed with military occupation by European powers, to control the Suez Canal. Eden backed the plan with UK resources including military forces, directly leading to the Suez Crisis. Challe was a French
The Last Exile The Last Exile The Last Exile (1961) is an historical novel by Australian writer James Aldridge. The novel is set in Egypt before, during and after the Suez Crisis of 1956. A number of prominent players in the crisis, including Australian Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, and Egypt President Gamal Abdul Nasser, appear as characters in the book. A reviewer in "The Canberra Times" noted the risks of writing about so recent an event, and then worried about the length of the book: "In any fictional treatment of a controversial and still remembered incident of history, it is almost impossible for