This is an integrated collection in which Gregory Woods returns to the themes of obsession, possession and violence. In its explorations of masculinity, the opening section draws on struggles for power in ancient and more recent history. These poems dissect men's vanities and desires in ways which expose the personal facets of heroism and atrocity. In the pivotal central section, Woods returns to a colonial childhood and the roots of his own development as a writer. The third section combines personal reminiscences with a sceptical re-examination of sexual liberation.