The Arabian Nights has become a synonym for the fabulous and the exotic. It contains hundreds of narratives of all kinds—fables, epics, erotica, debates, fairy tales, political allegories, mystical anecdotes, and comedies. Widely held in contempt in the Middle East for its frivolity and occasional obscenity, the work has nevertheless had a major influence on European and American culture. This companion aims to guide the reader into this labyrinth of storytelling. It traces the development of the stories from prehistoric India and pharaonic Egypt to modern times, and explores the history of translation and imitation and uses the stories as a guide to the social history and counter-culture of the medieval Near East.
