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."
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Lebanese author Wafa' Tarnowska opens a window onto the Arab world with her magnificent new translation of eight stories from A Thousand & One Nights. This edition is notable for combining favourites such as ' Aladdin & the Wonderful Lamp' with less familiar tales such as ' The Diamond Anklet' & ' The Speaking Bird & the Singing Tree'. The collection also features the frame story about Shahriyar & Shahrazade. A classic of world literature newly translated by an Arab author who has divided her adult life between Europe & the Middle East & who has based this retelling on a fourteenth-century Syrian manuscript. Sumptuous illustrations by French illustrator Carole Henaff who has travelled in the Arab world & now lives with her family in Barcelona. ...

Every night for three years the vengeful King Shahriyar sleeps with a different virgin executing her next morning. To end this brutal pattern & to save her own life the vizier's daughter Shahrazad begins to tell the king tales of adventure love riches & wonder
- tales of mystical lands peopled with princes & hunchbacks the Angel of Death & magical spirits tales of the voyages of Sindbad of Ali Baba's outwitting a band of forty thieves & of jinnis trapped in rings & in lamps. The sequence of stories will last 1 001 nights.
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Every night for three years the vengeful King Shahriyar sleeps with a different virgin executing her next morning. To end this brutal pattern & to save her own life the vizier's daughter Shahrazad begins to tell the king tales of adventure love riches & wonder
- tales of mystical lands peopled with princes & hunchbacks the Angel of Death & magical spirits tales of the voyages of Sindbad of Ali Baba's outwitting a band of forty thieves & of jinnis trapped in rings & in lamps. The sequence of stories will last 1 001 nights.
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Wilfred Thesiger was born in Addis Ababa in 1910 & educated at Eton & Oxford. Though British he was repulsed by the softness & rigidity of Western life the machines the calling cards the meticulously aligned streets etc." In the spirit of T.E. Lawrence Thesiger spent five years exploring & wandering the deserts of Arabia. With vivid descriptions & colorful anecdotes he narrates his stories including two crossings of the Empty Quarter among peoples who had never seen a European & considered it their duty to kill Christian infidels." ...

Compact & easy to use this handy guide

Includes:: travel & language tips plus a two-way mini-dictionary so

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As the national language of nearly 20 countries in Africa & Asia & spoken by Approx. 190 million people Arabic is the lingua franca of the Middle East. This title uses a standard Arabic helpful to those travelling all over the region. The emphasis is on commonly heard terms & phrases that are recognisable throughout the Arabic speaking world. Both the dictionary & phrasebook incorporate the Arabic script & its romanised transliteration. The two-way dictionary contains important travel geographical & cultural terminology while the phrasebook focuses on the needs of travellers & covers almost every situation from arrival to departure. ...

Look & learn to recall a wealth of everyday vocabulary in Arabic with this intuitive easy-to-use visual language dictionary. Whether it's for business or pleasure pick up 6 000 key Arabic words & phrases on a range of subjects: from shopping & eating out to sport & beyond quickly & easily. Find every word you need to know fast using the clearly labeled color illustrated scenes from everyday life. Plus find helpful features on key Arabic nouns verbs & phrases to improve your understanding of the language. Pocket-sized so you can take it wherever your travels take you. ...

Concise convenient & teeming with useful vocabulary words in the target language this handy dictionary makes effective communication a snap. The compact size allows travellers students & businesspersons to keep this bilingual dictionary close at hand & discrete while side-by-side pronunciation enables users to speak & understand the language at a basic level. Also included is a grammar section. ...

In the caves of Avantia lurks Arachnid the King of Spiders. Massive & terrifying Arachnid preys on the local townspeople & guards a piece of the magical golden armour. Can Tom defeat the Beast & save the kingdom from destruction? Don't miss: ZEPHA THE MONSTER SQUID
- CLAW THE GIANT MONKEY
- SOLTRA THE STONE CHARMER
- VIPERO THE SNAKE MAN
- TRILLION THE THREE-HEADED LION.



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