While he was stationed in Alexandria with the Red Cross during World War I, English novelist E. M. Forster (1879-1970) used the pen name "Pharos" for articles he wrote for the local newspapers The Egyptian Mail and The Egyptian Gazette.  He took the name from the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria, and his essays were indeed beacons of peace and humane culture in the darkness of war.

Back in England after the war Forster continued to use the pseudonym occasionally up until 1920 (sometimes shortened to "P"). In 1923 many of these Alexandria pieces, written in both Egypt and England, were collected in Pharos and Pharillon, an unrecognized gem of a book, beautifully handprinted, bound, and published by his friends Leonard and Virginia Woolf's Hogarth Press.

In this new and, unfortunately, war-torn 21st century these essays—along with Forster's other works—entertain and enlighten modern readers, who yield to the charm of Forster's style and continue to find his views and perspectives relevant.