Asmahan was a famous Arab singer in Cairo in the 1930s. She was a Druze princess from Syria, actually named Amal al-Atrash. She broke free from her traditional role in family and clan, left her husband and became a public performer. She was rumored to be an agent for the allied Forces during World War II. This book tells her story and that of her career and musical legacy against the background of the cultural and political history of Egypt and Syria between the two world wars. And it tells about the change in attitude in the Arab world toward women as public performers.