This book undertakes the first sustained interpretation of all of Tayeb Salih's novels and short stories that constitute a single narrative cycle. The book focuses primarily on the ways in which his work depicts the clashing of Arab ideologiesthat is, questions of tradition, modernity, imperialism, gender, and political authority in the Arab world. The analysis of Salih's work elucidates his inventive form, while at the same time delineating both the development and the special character of Salih's art.