With nearly a half-century of intermittent civil war in the background, it is becoming impossible to write a social-science monograph about Sudan without referring to contested national, ethnic, and religious identities. Few such works are gendered, however, and perhaps even fewer attempt a class analysis. Sudanese scholars contend more successfully with class; Euroamericans with gender. Despite good intentions, Sudan is usually explored through the binary model of “north” and “south.” Ann Lesch is no exception, but her ability to complicate matters is a welcome addition to the “integration–segregation” or “unionist–separatist” literature on Sudan.