It is 1936 and the British High Commissioner, Sir Malcolm Cheyne, has brought his young wife out to Cairo. And there she meets the Egyptian Prince. He is young, handsome, and very soon, ardent in his pursuit of the new Lady Cheyne. Set against the glamour of prewar Alexandria and Cairo, One of Us is also the story of Jimmy Peel, a young Englishman come to instruct the prince in history, politics, and morals. In Egypt, Jimmy discovers his own sensual side as he is drawn deep into the erotic life and political intrigue of Abdin Palace and the British Embassy. Soon war and circumstance create a triangle that is as turbulently political as it is romantic. One of Us will take its place beside The English Patient and The Alexandria Quartet as a triumphant excursion into an astonishing world of decadent wealth and privilege that will not come again. It evokes a time when honor and sacrifice mattered, when love might still prevail.