In the late 1970s, in order to collect data for his thesis, Berkeley PhD student Richard Adams decides to combine his years of studying Arabic with his interest in rural poverty by going to live in a small village in Upper Egypt, south of Cairo.

In this village Adams makes his home among the Egyptian fellahin, the ancient tillers of the land in Egypt. Poor but proud, suspicious but not quite closed to outsiders, these peasant farmers attract and fascinate him more than any other group of people.

As the first foreigner to live in the village, Adams must first find a suitable place to live. Then he needs to create the trust and goodwill to gain access to the peasant farmers who cultivate their fields using many of the same tools and implements as their ancestors did in the time of the pharaohs 3,500 years ago.

With much patience and care, he makes inroads among the fellahin. Observing community culture, penetrating local governing structures, and befriending the people around him, Adams slowly establishes a life for himself among poor peasants, rich peasants and local government bureaucrats.

With keen insight and considerable affection and compassion for his village friends, Adams provides readers with a captivating portrait of a people and a way of life unknown to most Western audiences.