The Young Revolutionaries of Egypt

How a loose coalition of veteran activists and rookie protesters combined to create the Middle East's most unusual uprising

Dominic NahrMagnum for TIME

Young men helps put up a banner on a building while hundreds of thousands of protestors take part during anti Mubarak protests in Tahrir Square.

You think you know what Arab rage looks like: wild-eyed young men shouting bellicose verses from the Koran as they hurl themselves against authority, armed with anything from rocks to bomb vests. So who were these impostors gathered in Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation) Square to call for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak? They were smiling and laughing, waving witty banners, organizing spontaneous soccer tournaments and thrusting cigarettes and flowers into the hands of Mubarak's soldiers. They may have turned U.S. policy in the Middle East on its head, but even the American President was moved to praise the people who humbled...

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