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A Sultan in Palermo Tariq Ali

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A Sultan in Palermo By Tariq Ali

A Sultan in Palermo by Tariq Ali


£8.40
Condition - Very Good
Out of stock

Summary

The year is 1153. The Normans are ruling Siqqiliya, but Arab culture and language dominate the island and the court. Sultan Rujari surrounds himself with Muslim intellectuals, several concubines, and an administration presided over by gifted eunuchs. This fourth novel in Tariq Ali's "Islam Quintet" is set in medieval Palermo, a Muslim city.

A Sultan in Palermo Summary

A Sultan in Palermo: A Novel by Tariq Ali

The fourth novel in Tariq Ali's 'Islam Quintet' charts the life and loves of the medieval cartographer Muhammed al-Idrisi. Torn between his close friendship with the sultan and his friends who are leaving the island or plotting a resistance to Norman rule, Idrisi finds temporary solace in the harem; but his conscience is troubled...
A Sultan in Palermo is a mythic novel in which pride, greed, and lust intermingle with resistance and greatness. Debunking myths about Oriental exoticism, it echoes a past that can still be heard today.

A Sultan in Palermo Reviews

A richly woven tapestry that merits comparison with Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy. * Kirkus Reviews *
A twelfth-century geographer al-Idrisi had been told by his father of the twelve calligraphers
who transcribed Arabic translations of al-Homa's poetry, working under conditions of such
secrecy that if they were even to reveal the nature of their work, 'the executioner's scimitar,
in a lightning flash, would detach head from body'. But one of the calligraphers, undaunted,
copied out parts of both al-Homa's poems and sent them to his family in Damascus, along
with the information that the complete manuscripts were in secret compartments in the
library of Palermo. Generations later, al-Idrisi finds himself in the library at Palermo and,
of course, discovers the secret compartment. .Whether the subject is heretical poetry, the
disunity of the Arabs or the threat that laughter poses to those in power, these digressions
only add to the richness of the novel's texture. A marvellously paced and boisterously told
novel of intrigue, love, insurrection and manipulation. * Guardian *

About Tariq Ali

TARIQ ALI is a writer and filmmaker. He has written more than a dozen books on world history and politics--including Pirates of the Caribbean, Bush in Babylon, The Clash of Fundamentalisms and The Obama Syndrome--as well as five novels in his Islam Quintet series and scripts for the stage and screen. He is an editor of the New Left Review and lives in London.

Additional information

GOR007857653
9781781689301
178168930X
A Sultan in Palermo: A Novel by Tariq Ali
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Verso Books
2015-07-07
256
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - A Sultan in Palermo