When we talk about contemporary Middle Eastern history, we often think about concepts like corruption, religion and war, and it's easy to forget that the real story is about people. Revolution is the story of the people behind the concepts.
Beledar, 1942.
War rages in the West, but the East is not immune to its call. In the capital of Beledar - Mayasin - the old Emir is dying, and his son, Jalal, British-educated and with modern sensibilities, is poised to take leadership over a fractious nation.
Growing up in the poorest streets of Mayasin, Abdullah ekes out a meagre living shining shoes, selling arak, and performing less savoury favours for visiting foreigners in the city. But one bloodied, fateful night when the course of his life changes forever.
In a remote desert village on the other side of Beledar, Khalid is witness to immense brutality, meted out by his elder brother. He is forced to go along with it and not yet a teenager, he already has blood on his hands.
Sunni and Shi'i, royalist and revolutionary. One is destined for the palace; the other is for the army. As their nation grapples with a new world, new independence, new ideas, and new struggles, the lives of these two boys will become inextricably intertwined... and the fate of the whole country will hang in the balance.
Beledar, 1942.
War rages in the West, but the East is not immune to its call. In the capital of Beledar - Mayasin - the old Emir is dying, and his son, Jalal, British-educated and with modern sensibilities, is poised to take leadership over a fractious nation.
Growing up in the poorest streets of Mayasin, Abdullah ekes out a meagre living shining shoes, selling arak, and performing less savoury favours for visiting foreigners in the city. But one bloodied, fateful night when the course of his life changes forever.
In a remote desert village on the other side of Beledar, Khalid is witness to immense brutality, meted out by his elder brother. He is forced to go along with it and not yet a teenager, he already has blood on his hands.
Sunni and Shi'i, royalist and revolutionary. One is destined for the palace; the other is for the army. As their nation grapples with a new world, new independence, new ideas, and new struggles, the lives of these two boys will become inextricably intertwined... and the fate of the whole country will hang in the balance.
