The 1964 publication of Sir Richard Burton's translation marked the first wide appearance in English of the Kama Sutra and was celebrated as a literary event of highest importance. As vital to an understanding of ancient Indian civilization as the works of Plato and Aristotle are to the West, the Kama Sutra has endured for 1,700 years as an indisputable classic of world literature.

Written with frankness and unassuming candor, the Kama Sutra remains one of the most readable and enjoyable of all the classics of antiquity. A work of philosophy, psychology,...

Full of mischief, valor, ribaldry, and romance, The Arabian Nights has enthralled readers for centuries. These are the tales that saved the life of Shahrazad, whose husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of marriage. Beginning an enchanting story each evening, Shahrazad always withheld the ending: A thousand and one nights later, her life was spared forever.
This volume reproduces the 1932 Modern Library edition, for which Bennett A. Cerf chose the most famous and representative stories from Sir Richard F. Burton's multivolume translation, and includes...

Sir Richard F. Burton's translation of The Kama Sutra remains one of the best English interpretations of this early Indian treatise on politics, social customs, love, and intimacy. Its crisp style set a new standard for Sanskrit translation.
The Kama Sutra stands uniquely as a work of psychology, sociology, Hindu dogma, and sexology. It has been a celebrated classic of Indian literature for 1,700 years and a window for the West into the culture and mysticism of the East.
This Modern Library Paperback Classic reprints the authoritative text of Sir Richard F. Burton's 1883...

Enjoy the timeless tales of Aladdin, Sinbad, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and many more in this first volume of The Arabian Nights.
Upon learning of his queen's infidelity, proud King Shahryar has her killed. As revenge on womankind, he decides to wed a different virgin every night, only to have her beheaded at dawn. Such is Shahryar's practice for three terrible years--until he weds Scheherazade, the maiden who will change his life....
A breathtaking beauty, Scheherazade is as learned as she is sensuous. Her first night with the king, she uses her imagination, her...

Kama means desire, love, and lust; sutra means teachings and "verses." The Kama Sutra, then, is the book of love, teaching the best methods of cultivating sensual pleasure, sexual desire, and loving union. A classic of world literature for 1,700 years, this is the most explicit and fascinating book ever written for lovers.
This immortal work also serves as a window into Indian culture and mysticism. Its unique approach --combining meditations on politics and social customs with counsel on love and intimacy -- features frank, direct advice on bodily pleasures, from...

Published in 1851, this is the first book written by the famed Victorian explorer Richard F. Burton. It is an account of his journey through portions of southwest India while he was on sick leave from the British Indian army. Traveling through Bombay to the Portuguese colony of Goa, he went through Calicut and other cities on the Malabar coast, ending up in the Nilgiri mountains at the hill station of Ootacamund. The observant traveler, not the intrepid adventurer, is the narrator of the account, and its intended audience was the voracious Victorian consumer of travel literature.

Coupled...

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

A classic work of 19th century travel literature in which Burton turns his hand to describing the charms of the century spice island. Burton's trip to Zanzibar was soon after the death of the great Sayyid Said, the first Sultan of Zanzibar, during whose reign many Omani Arabs came to live in the region, bringing great prosperity. Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) dropped out of Oxford to join the Indian army and travel the world. Later, serving as a consul for the British government, Burton was the first European adventurer to search for the source of the Nile; to enter, disguised, the...

A classic work of 19th century travel literature in which Burton turns his hand to describing the charms of the century spice island. Burton's trip to Zanzibar was soon after the death of the great Sayyid Said, the first Sultan of Zanzibar, during whose reign many Omani Arabs came to live in the region, bringing great prosperity. Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) dropped out of Oxford to join the Indian army and travel the world. Later, serving as a consul for the British government, Burton was the first European adventurer to search for the source of the Nile; to enter, disguised, the...

Burton's travels through war torn Paraguay in 1864, during the war between Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Something of a war correspondent, Burton showed familiarity with the war scene, and the introductory essay is a penetrating analysis.Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) dropped out of Oxford to join the Indian army and travel the world. Later, serving as a consul for the British government, Burton was the first European adventurer to search for the source of the Nile; to enter, disguised, the forbidden cities of Mecca and Medina; and to travel through remote stretches of...