Atlas Greaves has spent a working life as a correspondent, going into places to understand what happened and how the ground beneath them shaped the story. Greaves is the author of The Far Countries, a narrative nonfiction series built around one book for every nation on earth. Each volume brings together landscape, history, people, food, faith, cities, and everyday rituals in a compact literary portrait written to be read rather than carried. Previous countries in the series include Japan, Morocco, and Peru. Egypt, the fourth volume, follows the Nile through the civilization, daily life, and modern nation created along its banks.