The Arabian Nights" has become a synonym for the fabulous & the exotic. Every child is familiar with the stories of Aladdin Sinbad the Sailor & Ali Baba. Yet very few people even specialists in oriential literature have a clear idea of when the book was written or what exactly it is. Far from being a batch of stories for children " The Arabian Nights" contains hundreds of narratives of all kinds
- fables epics erotica debates fairy tales political allegories mystical anecdotes & comedies. It is a labyrinth of stories within stories. Widely held in contempt in the Middle East for its frivolity & occasional obscenity the work has nevertheless had a major influence on European & American culture to the extent that the story collection must be considered as a key work in Western literature. A full understanding of the writings of Voltaire Dickens Melville Proust & Borges or indeed of the origins of science fiction is impossible without some familiarity with the stories of the " Nights". This companion aims to guide the reader into this labyrinth of storytelling. It traces the development of the stories from prehistoric India & Pharaonic Egypt to modern times & explores the history of translation & imitation. Above all it uses the stories as a guide to the social history & counter-culture of the medieval Near East & the world of the storyteller the snake charmer the burglar the sorcerer the drug-addict the treasure hunter & the adulterer."