Published in 1981, the book describes a six-month journey across the Asian continent after the Iranian Revolution.

Naipaul explores the culture and the explosive situation in countries where Islamic fundamentalism was growing.

The proposed aim of the author was to study cultures which have a long pre-Islamic history and their modern attempts to establish a religious state.

Anwar had been to Iran and met Ayatollah Khomeini, and he wanted to awake Malaysian people.

He meet poets in Jakarta and he make a trip to visit the Koranic schools, called pesantren.