Tales from the Bazaars of Arabia: Folk Stories from the Middle East (Paperback)

A goldsmith’s daughter who eludes the Prince of Darkness, three wandering brothers born from a walnut tree, the Princess of Fantasistan, the case of the Shah’s lost ruby ring, the leopard and the Sultan’s emissary, the Cook and the Unforgettable Sneeze… These are just some of the enchanting stories described in Tales from the Bazaars of Arabia, a collection of classic folktales gathered from Arabia, Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey. Each story is alive with vivid characters - beggars and kings, merchants, witches and djinns - and threaded with universal motifs of fantasy and magic, fate and karma, good and evil. With spirit and passion, Amina Shah here illuminates the exoticism of bygone worlds and resurrects the memories and traditions of some of the greatest storytelling cultures in the world.

Amina Shah is widely regarded as one of the greatest collectors and tellers of traditional folktales of our time. Formerly Chairperson of the British College of Storytellers, she is the author of several important collections of stories, including Assemblies of Al-Hariri, Arabian Fairytales and Tales of Afghanistan.

'The great Amina Shah's latest collection of stories come from bazaars, naturally, but also from Turkey, Persia, Arabia and Afghanistan...These charming short tales reveal a kinder, sweeter Islamic culture than the nightly news.'  - William Darragh, FORTEAN TIMES, April 2009