u003cbu003eFrom the acclaimed author of u003ciu003eRiver Townu003c/iu003e and u003ciu003eOracle Bonesu003c/iu003e, an intimate excavation of life in one of the world's oldest civilizations at a time of convulsive changeu003c/bu003eu003cbru003e u003cbru003e Drawn by a fascination with Egypt's rich history and culture, Peter Hessler moved with his wife and twin daughters to Cairo in 2011. He wanted to learn Arabic, explore Cairo's neighborhoods, and visit the legendary archaeological digs of Upper Egypt. After his years of covering China for u003ciu003eThe New Yorkeru003c/iu003e, friends warned him Egypt would be a much quieter place. But not long before he arrived, the Egyptian Arab Spring had begun, and now the country was in chaos.u003cbru003e u003cbru003e In the midst of the revolution, Hessler often traveled to digs at Amarna and Abydos, where locals live beside the tombs of kings and courtiers, a landscape that they call simply u003ciu003eal-Madfunau003c/iu003e: "the Buried." He and his wife set out to master Arabic, striking up a friendship with their instructor, a cynical political sophisticate. They also befriended Peter's translator, a gay man struggling to find happiness in Egypt's homophobic culture. A different kind of friendship was formed with the neighborhood garbage collector, an illiterate but highly perceptive man named Sayyid, whose access to the trash of Cairo would be its own kind of archaeological excavation. Hessler also met a family of Chinese small-business owners in the lingerie trade; their view of the country proved a bracing counterpoint to the West's conventional wisdom.u003cbru003e u003cbru003e Through the lives of these and other ordinary people in a time of tragedy and heartache, and through connections between contemporary Egypt and its ancient past, Hessler creates an astonishing portrait of a country and its people. What emerges is a book of uncompromising intelligence and humanity--the story of a land in which a weak state has collapsed but its underlying society remains in many ways painfully the same. A worthy successor to works like Rebecca West's u003ciu003eBlack Lamb and Grey Falconu003c/iu003e and Bruce Chatwin's u003ciu003eThe Songlinesu003c/iu003e, u003ciu003eThe Buriedu003c/iu003e bids fair to be recognized as one of the great books of our time.