Bat Ye’or was born in Egypt. After 1948 and the anti-Jewish legislation, the government confiscated her family’s assets. In 1956 the family had to leave the country stateless and with two suitcases. In London, Bat Ye’or received a grant to study at the Institute of Archaeology (London University). She married David Gerald Littman, a historian and student of Palestinian archaeology, and the couple had three children. Bat Ye’or has written several books on the condition of Jews and Christians in Islam, published in seven languages; studies on the relations of the European Community and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation; an autobiography; and a novel on the last days of the Jewish community in Egypt.