The Republic of False Truths

From the bestselling author of The Yacoubian Building 'Glorious'Observer 'Amazing' André Aciman 'Masterly' Sunday Times 'Blistering' Financial Times General Alwany is a pious man who loves his family. He also tortures and kills enemies of the state. Under the regime of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt is gripped by cronyism, religious hypocrisy, and the oppressive military. Now, however, the regime faces its greatest crisis. The idealistic young from different backgrounds - engineers, teachers, medical students, and among them the general's daughter - have come together to challenge the status quo. Euphoria mounts as Mubarak is toppled and love blossoms across class divides, but can it last? 'Rooted in first-hand experience, this searing account of the short-lived 2011 Egyptian revolution blends knockabout satire with real polemical anger.' Daily Mail 'A powerful book in the vein of a great Russian or South American social novel . . . Al Aswany is a writer of great talent, a rare man whose courage is not merely literary.' Le Figaro

Alaa Al Aswany originally trained as a dentist and retains his own dental practice in Cairo. His novel The Yacoubian Building has sold over one million copies worldwide and was the bestselling novel in the Arab world for over five years. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages and published in over one hundred countries. He speaks Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. Al Aswany has received many awards internationally, including the Bashrahil Award for the Arabic novel, the Kafavis Award from Greece, and the Grinzane Cavour Award from Italy, and was named by The Times as one of the fifty best authors to have been translated into English over the last fifty years. In 2016, he was appointed a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.