This trilogy, The Club Ariagni, The Bat, is the saga of three cities-Jerusalem, Cairo and Alexandria- drifting towards chaos in a war-torn Middle East. At its centre is Manos: man of intellect and integrity, lover of life, hero of the Greek war against the Italian invasion, who deserted the national army to join the leftists in the clandestine struggle against the Greek fascists and royalists. Underground operations lead him from city to city, involving him in a chain of shifting and perilous relationships and Manos is forced to choose between his humanist impulses and the brutal dictates of ideological orthodoxy. Combining an exotic brilliance of detail reminiscent of Durrell's Alexandria novels with the sweep and historical passion of Malraux, Stratis Tsirkas has, with "Drifting Cities", established himself as a novelist of international importance.