''The Dancer Upstairs'' is a 1995 novel by

Nicholas Shakespeare Nicholas William Richmond Shakespeare FRSL (born 3 March 1957) is a British novelist and biographer, described by the ''Wall Street Journal'' as "one of the best English novelists of our time". Biography Born in Worcester, England to diplomat ...

. It is based on the

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

insurgency of the 1980s in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, and tells the story of Agustin Rejas, a police Lieutenant (later promoted to Captain), hunting a terrorist based on

Abimael Guzmán Manuel Rubén Abimael Guzmán Reynoso (; 3 December 1934 − 11 September 2021), also known by his '' nom de guerre'' Chairman Gonzalo ( es, Presidente Gonzalo), was a Peruvian Maoist revolutionary and guerrilla leader, considered a terrorist ...

, leader of the

Shining Path The Shining Path ( es, Sendero Luminoso), officially the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a communist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group in Peru following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the gro ...

. In 2002 it was given a film adaptation under the same title.

References

1995 British novels British crime novels British historical novels British novels adapted into films Novels set in Lima Novels set in the 1980s Internal conflict in Peru Harvill Secker books {{1990s-hist-novel-stub