The writer and politician Mahmud al-Mis'adi is a figure of prime importance in the development of North African literature and cultural politics since the last war. This fascinating book covers both his essays and fiction, written between the 1930s and 1990s, which challenge the boundaries between the sacred and irreligious in the Islamic world. In addition, it also examines Arabic literature and its relationship to the West.

The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II by Fernand Braudel revolutionized the study of Mediterranean history on its publication in 1949. Now, 60 years ""after Braudel,"" this book brings together work by area specialists and the latest research on the sea itself in the early modern period, the maritime trade that flourished there, the ships which travelled it and the men who sailed them. It opens up the subject to English-speaking readers interested in maritime history, naval history, the history of the early modern world and the historiographical...