FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF AWARD-WINNING NOVEL BANNED IN IRAQ. In Ben Barka Lane we see the Morocco of the late 1960s through the eyes of a young political exile from Iraq—its beauty and misery, its unforgettable people. In this contemporary classic, Mahmoud Saeed offers us a unique portrait of a time and place, and a tale of the passion, politics, vengeance, and betrayal that take place there. "A landmark of the modern Arab novel, " in the words of one critic, Ben Barka Lane is now, at last, in English translation, as compelling today as when first published.