Egyptian Earth

A twelve-year-old boy returns from his school in Cairo to find his village torn by feuding and fear. A corrupt official has ordered the peasants to irrigate their fields in five days instead of the customary ten, a demand that threatens to severely disrupt the life of this small community. The schoolmaster Sheikh Hassouna urges the villagers to rebel. But it takes many attempts - some disastrous, others comical and touching - before they join forces and stand against their oppressors. Sharqawi's novel, set in the 1930s, was first published in 1954 - two years after the Egyptian revolution. A masterpiece of modern Arabic literature, Egyptian Earth has been translated into many languages and was made into a popular film by the well-known Egyptian director Youssef Chahine.