Tahir Shah

Eight strangers were clustered around the campfire of the caravanserai - silhouetted, ragged, and ripened by adventure. As the flames licked the darkness, sparks spitting up into the nocturnal firmament, the traveller dressed in turquoise cleared his throat and told his tale... And so starts Hourglass, one of the eight extraordinary Caravanserai Stories - short tales that take the reader on a journey of enchantment and delight. Inspired by his Afghan grandfather's first book, Eastern Moonbeams, published a century ago, Tahir Shah's The Caravanserai Stories are part of the heritage of folklore, of which The Thousand and One Nights is a foundation stone. Shah says: 'Teaching stories such as these have been used throughout much of the world since the dawn of human society. Indeed, teaching stories, fables, legends, and wider folklore are like encoded documents of humanity - constituting a repository of knowledge amassed over millennia.' Regarded as one of the most important and prolific storytellers working today, Tahir Shah's body of work comprises more than sixty books, many of them containing tales and folklore gleaned from all corners of the world.

Eight strangers were clustered around the campfire of the caravanserai - silhouetted, ragged, and ripened by adventure. As the flames licked the darkness, sparks spitting up into the nocturnal firmament, the traveller dressed in apricot cleared his throat and told his tale... And so starts Mellified Man, one of the eight extraordinary Caravanserai Stories - short tales that take the reader on a journey of enchantment and delight. Inspired by his Afghan grandfather's first book, Eastern Moonbeams, published a century ago, Tahir Shah's The Caravanserai Stories are part of the heritage of folklore, of which The Thousand and One Nights is a foundation stone. Shah says: 'Teaching stories such as these have been used throughout much of the world since the dawn of human society. Indeed, teaching stories, fables, legends, and wider folklore are like encoded documents of humanity - constituting a repository of knowledge amassed over millennia.' Regarded as one of the most important and prolific storytellers working today, Tahir Shah's body of work comprises more than sixty books, many of them containing tales and folklore gleaned from all corners of the world.

Eight strangers were clustered around the campfire of the caravanserai - silhouetted, ragged, and ripened by adventure. As the flames licked the darkness, sparks spitting up into the nocturnal firmament, the traveller dressed in orange cleared his throat and told his tale... And so starts Jinnlore, one of the eight extraordinary Caravanserai Stories - short tales that take the reader on a journey of enchantment and delight. Inspired by his Afghan grandfather's first book, Eastern Moonbeams, published a century ago, Tahir Shah's The Caravanserai Stories are part of the heritage of folklore, of which The Thousand and One Nights is a foundation stone. Shah says: 'Teaching stories such as these have been used throughout much of the world since the dawn of human society. Indeed, teaching stories, fables, legends, and wider folklore are like encoded documents of humanity - constituting a repository of knowledge amassed over millennia.' Regarded as one of the most important and prolific storytellers working today, Tahir Shah's body of work comprises more than sixty books, many of them containing tales and folklore gleaned from all corners of the world.

Eight strangers were clustered around the campfire of the caravanserai - silhouetted, ragged, and ripened by adventure. As the flames licked the darkness, sparks spitting up into the nocturnal firmament, the traveller dressed in turquoise cleared his throat and told his tale... And so starts Imaginist, one of the eight extraordinary Caravanserai Stories - short tales that take the reader on a journey of enchantment and delight. Inspired by his Afghan grandfather's first book, Eastern Moonbeams, published a century ago, Tahir Shah's The Caravanserai Stories are part of the heritage of folklore, of which The Thousand and One Nights is a foundation stone. Shah says: 'Teaching stories such as these have been used throughout much of the world since the dawn of human society. Indeed, teaching stories, fables, legends, and wider folklore are like encoded documents of humanity - constituting a repository of knowledge amassed over millennia.' Regarded as one of the most important and prolific storytellers working today, Tahir Shah's body of work comprises more than sixty books, many of them containing tales and folklore gleaned from all corners of the world.

Eight strangers were clustered around the campfire of the caravanserai - silhouetted, ragged, and ripened by adventure. As the flames licked the darkness, sparks spitting up into the nocturnal firmament, the traveller dressed in blue cleared his throat and told his tale... And so starts Skeleton Island, one of the eight extraordinary Caravanserai Stories - short tales that take the reader on a journey of enchantment and delight. Inspired by his Afghan grandfather's first book, Eastern Moonbeams, published a century ago, Tahir Shah's The Caravanserai Stories are part of the heritage of folklore, of which The Thousand and One Nights is a foundation stone. Shah says: 'Teaching stories such as these have been used throughout much of the world since the dawn of human society. Indeed, teaching stories, fables, legends, and wider folklore are like encoded documents of humanity - constituting a repository of knowledge amassed over millennia.' Regarded as one of the most important and prolific storytellers working today, Tahir Shah's body of work comprises more than sixty books, many of them containing tales and folklore gleaned from all corners of the world.

Eight strangers were clustered around the campfire of the caravanserai - silhouetted, ragged, and ripened by adventure. As the flames licked the darkness, sparks spitting up into the nocturnal firmament, the traveller dressed in red cleared his throat and told his tale... And so starts Jinn's Treasure, one of the eight extraordinary Caravanserai Stories - short tales that take the reader on a journey of enchantment and delight. Inspired by his Afghan grandfather's first book, Eastern Moonbeams, published a century ago, Tahir Shah's The Caravanserai Stories are part of the heritage of folklore, of which The Thousand and One Nights is a foundation stone. Shah says: 'Teaching stories such as these have been used throughout much of the world since the dawn of human society. Indeed, teaching stories, fables, legends, and wider folklore are like encoded documents of humanity - constituting a repository of knowledge amassed over millennia.' Regarded as one of the most important and prolific storytellers working today, Tahir Shah's body of work comprises more than sixty books, many of them containing tales and folklore gleaned from all corners of the world.

Eight strangers were clustered around the campfire of the caravanserai - silhouetted, ragged, and ripened by adventure. As the flames licked the darkness, sparks spitting up into the nocturnal firmament, the traveller dressed in turquoise cleared his throat and told his tale... And so starts Wellspring, one of the eight extraordinary Caravanserai Stories - short tales that take the reader on a journey of enchantment and delight. Inspired by his Afghan grandfather's first book, Eastern Moonbeams, published a century ago, Tahir Shah's The Caravanserai Stories are part of the heritage of folklore, of which The Thousand and One Nights is a foundation stone. Shah says: 'Teaching stories such as these have been used throughout much of the world since the dawn of human society. Indeed, teaching stories, fables, legends, and wider folklore are like encoded documents of humanity - constituting a repository of knowledge amassed over millennia.' Regarded as one of the most important and prolific storytellers working today, Tahir Shah's body of work comprises more than sixty books, many of them containing tales and folklore gleaned from all corners of the world.

As confusions of wildebeest roamed the savannah plains, a frail little gust of air struck the rounded side of a rock. Compressed for a fleeting moment, the gust doubled back on itself, forming the seed of a wind. All fresh and young, the little wind clung hold to the rock, fearful of letting go. As she did so, she heard the voice of an old wind, ripened by adventure. And so the fresh young wind let go, and her own journey began. She flew over the vast grasslands of Africa and out over the blue-black ocean, across the jungles of the Amazon, and beyond a hundred horizons. Becalmed, then rescued by a passing albatross, sucked up into the vortex of a colossal storm, zigzagging along valley floors, and rising higher than the mightiest of mountains, the little wind grew in confidence and verve... Until she was no longer a little wind at all. Having spiralled the earth a thousand times, she happened to pause at the rock against which she had been formed so long before. And there, she found a frail little gust clinging to a rock - a frail little gust that had just been born. A story for both children and adults, The Old Wind is a tale in the genre of teaching stories, told and retold by our ancestors since ancient times. Hailing from a family of storytellers, its author, Tahir Shah, is widely regarded as one of the most original writers of our age.

During a career of thirty years, Tahir Shah has published dozens of books on travel, exploration, topography, and research, as well as a large body of fiction. Through this extraordinary series of Anthologies, selections from the corpus are arranged by theme, allowing the reader to follow certain threads that are of profound interest to Shah. Spanning a number of distinct genres - in both fiction and non-fiction work - the collections incorporate a wealth of unpublished material. Prefaced by an original introduction, each Anthology provides a lens into a realm that has shaped Shah's own outlook as a bestselling author. Regarded as one of the most prolific and original writers working today, Tahir Shah has a worldwide following. Published in hundreds of editions and in more than thirty languages, his books turn the world back to front and inside out. Seeking to make sense of the hidden underbelly, he illuminates facets of life most writers hardly even realize exist.

During a career of thirty years, Tahir Shah has published dozens of books on travel, exploration, topography, and research, as well as a large body of fiction. Through this extraordinary series of Anthologies, selections from the corpus are arranged by theme, allowing the reader to follow certain threads that are of profound interest to Shah. Spanning a number of distinct genres - in both fiction and non-fiction work - the collections incorporate a wealth of unpublished material. Prefaced by an original introduction, each Anthology provides a lens into a realm that has shaped Shah's own outlook as a bestselling author. Regarded as one of the most prolific and original writers working today, Tahir Shah has a worldwide following. Published in hundreds of editions and in more than thirty languages, his books turn the world back to front and inside out. Seeking to make sense of the hidden underbelly, he illuminates facets of life most writers hardly even realize exist.

This fourth book of Nasrudin tales from the acclaimed storyteller, Tahir Shah, concerns the trials and tribulations of the inimitable wise fool's life in the Land of Fools. Some Nasrudin stories are overtly hilarious, while others are downright odd, yet all of them get the listener's brain working in new ways. For a thousand years, stories such as these have been relied upon - from Morocco in the west to China in the east - to impart wisdom, while challenging conventional thinking. GENIUS MACHINE Nasrudin invented a device to turn fools into geniuses, and geniuses into fools. As word of the machine spread, Foolslanders hurried to the capital and stood in line. Paying their money, some of the dimmest fools in existence became geniuses in the blink of an eye. But, one at a time, the geniuses queued up again to be turned back into fools. Nasrudin asked one of them why he wanted to be turned back.'I always wanted to be a genius, ' he said, 'but now I have experienced it, I realize it's so much less exhausting to go through life as a fool.'

During a career of thirty years, Tahir Shah has published dozens of books on travel, exploration, topography, and research, as well as a large body of fiction. Through this extraordinary series of Anthologies, selections from the corpus are arranged by theme, allowing the reader to follow certain threads that are of profound interest to Shah. Spanning a number of distinct genres - in both fiction and non-fiction work - the collections incorporate a wealth of unpublished material. Prefaced by an original introduction, each Anthology provides a lens into a realm that has shaped Shah's own outlook as a bestselling author. Regarded as one of the most prolific and original writers working today, Tahir Shah has a worldwide following. Published in hundreds of editions and in more than thirty languages, his books turn the world back to front and inside out. Seeking to make sense of the hidden underbelly, he illuminates facets of life most writers hardly even realize exist.

During a career of thirty years, Tahir Shah has published dozens of books on travel, exploration, topography, and research, as well as a large body of fiction. Through this extraordinary series of Anthologies, selections from the corpus are arranged by theme, allowing the reader to follow certain threads that are of profound interest to Shah. Spanning a number of distinct genres - in both fiction and non-fiction work - the collections incorporate a wealth of unpublished material. Prefaced by an original introduction, each Anthology provides a lens into a realm that has shaped Shah's own outlook as a bestselling author. Regarded as one of the most prolific and original writers working today, Tahir Shah has a worldwide following. Published in hundreds of editions and in more than thirty languages, his books turn the world back to front and inside out. Seeking to make sense of the hidden underbelly, he illuminates facets of life most writers hardly even realize exist.

It all began with a little black seed - the seed of a watermelon. Yahya, the self-styled 'Melon King', presented it to Tahir Shah, urging him to plant it in the courtyard garden of his home, the Caliph's House. The seed was duly planted, watered, and tended lovingly. Eventually it began to grow... First sprouting into a little green shoot, then into the beginnings of a plant, and at last giving birth to a watermelon. As the fruit grew and grew, the Melon King imparted a line of secret advice: Tell stories to the melon... stories about melons. Uncertain what stories to recount, Shah took to his desk and wrote a manuscript of tales to be told to the melon - a manuscript which, with time, became this book. In all probability the only book of stories ever written in awe and devotion to a melon, Tales Told to a Melon is a work of the purest imagination... ...and affection for the finest melon that ever lived.

Inspired by a true story: In October 1815, an illiterate American sailor named Robert Adams was discovered roaming the streets of London, half-naked and starving. In the months that followed, high society was rocked by his tale. At a time when the European powers were posturing for empire, there was one quest above all else, one destination to which no Christian had ever ventured and returned alive - Timbuctoo. Regarded as a golden metropolis par excellence, an African El Dorado fashioned from the purest gold, it was for centuries a European obsession. The British, Germans, French, and others dispatched their most capable explorers to seek it out and to sack it. Most of them never returned. The only nation uninterested in the mania for Timbuctoo was the fledgling United States. And so, when a young American sailor claimed to have visited the city as a guest of its king, while a white slave in Africa, it caused uproar on an unknown scale. More shocking still was the sailor's description of the El Dorado - as a poverty-stricken and wretched place - and the fact that he seemed blas and uninterested at having been there at all. Set against a backdrop of the British Regency, a time of ultimate decadence and avarice, of haves and have-nots, Robert Adams's tale has been all but forgotten, until now. An astonishing story of survival and hardship, it's a one touched with irony. A man who had set out to make his fame and fortune through trade, Robert Adams gained both, but by selling the tale of his journey. Almost twenty years ago, Tahir Shah noticed an inch-thick quarto-sized book propping up a water pipe in the basement of the London Library. Pulling it out, he first set eyes on Robert Adams's Narrative, published by John Murray in 1816. The book became an obsession to Shah, just as Regency London was itself fixated with the golden metropolis of Timbuctoo. Packed with well-researched detail of the time, and inspired by Adams's ordeal, Timbuctoo is a fast-past and compelling read. It's a tale of treachery, greed, love and, above all else, of survival in the face of insurmountable odds.

With communication faster and easier than it's ever been, we are better informed than ever about cultures from every corner of the earth. But rather than merely observing other societies - from books, documentaries, and internet sites - award-winning author Tahir Shah believes we must learn about them in a deep-down way. As he says, 'Only by studying the ancient methods of cultures that have endured for millennia do we have a hope of solving the problems we ourselves face.'Our society is constantly bombarded with trials and tribulations of all kinds - dilemmas that never existed before globalization propelled us into the frantic 'hyper zone' in which we live. Perhaps most worrying of all is that the predicaments and problems that face us are now endemic in fragile cultures that we have influenced and changed. The fascinating papers in Cultural Research illustrate a sense and a sensibility that we have lost, but which we can and must re-learn. Through reading of the experiences of others, we can understand our own society and the challenges it faces - so as to seek answers, not only to our own problems, but to those of the wider world.

Eight strangers were clustered around the campfire of the caravanserai - silhouetted, ragged, and ripenedby adventure. As the flames licked the darkness, sparks spitting up into the nocturnal firmament, the traveller dressed in indigo cleared his throat and told his tale... And so starts Ghoul Brothers, one of the eight extraordinary Caravanserai Stories - short tales that take the reader on a journey of enchantment and delight. Inspired by his Afghan grandfather's first book, Eastern Moonbeams, published a century ago, Tahir Shah's The Caravanserai Stories are part of the heritage of folklore, of which The Thousand and One Nights is a foundation stone. Shah says: 'Teaching stories such as these have been used throughout much of the world since the dawn of human society. Indeed, teaching stories, fables, legends, and wider folklore are like encoded documents of humanity - constituting a repository of knowledge amassed over millennia.' Regarded as one of the most important and prolific storytellers working today, Tahir Shah's body of work comprises more than sixty books, many of them containing tales and folklore gleaned from all corners of the world.

This is the story of a little girl called Floria, who lives in the Arctic Circle with her mother and father, and her brothers and sisters. Each winter, they crowd around in their little wooden house and listen to an epic story - The Tale of Elypsia. Tradition holds that, when the great saga ends, the winter darkness will come to a close as the first light of spring breaks over the horizon. But this particular year, the sun didn't rise when the last words of the epic were spoken. Floria sets off into the darkness to find out what's happening. Pitting herself against uncertainty and the elements, she uses her imagination to wake the sleeping sun. For both children and adults, When the Sun Forgot to Rise is a tale in the genre of teaching stories, told by our ancestors since ancient times. Its author, Tahir Shah, is widely regarded as one of the most original writers and storytellers of our age.

Like an expertly cut gemstone that catches the light, Daydreams of an Octopus & Other Stories is a dazzling homage to the teaching tales contained in the great treasury of A Thousand and One Nights. Written to be appreciated in innumerable ways and on many levels, this elegant collection is designed to be read and reread - for only then will the volume's magic come alive. Regarded as one of the foremost storytellers of the age, Tahir Shah believes that tales - whether ancient or contemporary - have the ability to help us perceive the world around us with new clarity and with fresh eyes. The author of more than fifty books embracing fiction, fantasy, travel, and academic research, Shah is descended from a long line of storytellers. His father - the Sufi thinker Idries Shah - revealed life lessons to him through stories, explaining that folktales are a repository of ancient knowledge that forms an instruction manual to the world.

Blaine Williams lives and breathes Casablanca. He's trapped in a make-believe world of Bogart and Bergman, of smoke-filled caf s, of fugitives and hit men. And he's having a mid-life crisis. Having lost his girlfriend, his job, and his home, he flees to the one place that has always symbolized comfort in times of sorrow and despair - CASABLANCA. Diving in at the deep end of Morocco's most misunderstood city, Blaine is sucked down through the many interwoven layers until he hits its bedrock... with a thump And it's there that he meets Ghita, a fabulously wealthy socialite...who's got a plan for him - one laced with intrigue and revenge. Through an adventure played out in twists and turns, Blaine and Ghita find themselves in a storyline straight out of Humphrey Bogart's Casablanca. Hilarious, poignant, and shocking at times, Casablanca Blues lifts the veil on modern Morocco and conjures a secret realm hidden from travellers and locals alike.