This paper problematizes the relationship between dominant and muted, or peripheral, discourses though an examination of the correspondence between Egypt’s first consul general, Lord Cromer and W.S. Blunt. Blunt, who was a great fan of Egyptians and of Arabs, is typically dismissed as having annoyed British colonial personnel greatly while having influenced them little. Indeed, while Blunt’s desert lifestyle, effervescent prose and tendencies to “go native” have been well chronicled, what has been less well studied are the effects of his thoughts about the people he called “Arabs” and the construction of Cromer’s policies in Egypt and the Sudan. While Blunt was, in fact, of great annoyance to Cromer, this paper argues that he in fact shaped the Consul General’s thoughts about the identity of people in the territories that came to be understood and administered as Egypt and the Sudan. Drawing on British archival sources, correspondence between the two men, and Blunt and Cromer’s published works, this paper illustrates the substantial role that Blunt’s ideas about Arabs and Arab civilization played in the construction of Cromer’s blueprint for governing, both in Egypt and the Sudan. The paper questions the imperial “vision” by illustrating not only how it was frequently constructed on the spot, but also by highlighting the role of “anti-imperialists” like Blunt in its construction.