A Who's Who of Western culture, from Woody Allen to Emile Zola...

Containing four hundred essay-style entries, and covering the period from 1850 to the present, The Concise New Makers of Modern Culture includes artists, writers, dramatists, architects, philosophers, anthropologists, scientists, sociologists, major political figures, composers, film-makers and many other culturally significant individuals and is thoroughly international in its purview.

Next to Karl Marx is Bob Marley, with John Ruskin is Salman Rushdie, alongside Darwin is Luigi Dallapiccola,...

One of the quickest ways to understand a people or a culture is to learn their proverbs. This anthology, first published in 1984, compiles in dictionary form proverbs from the Islamic world, particularly the Middle East and North Africa. The Arabs were the first to gather and annotate their own proverbs – the earliest collections date from the ninth century AD. These proverbs – earthy, witty and wise – present a vivid portrait of the Islamic world, and provide a guide to the folk-wisdom of the Arabic-speaking and Islamic peoples.

One of the quickest ways to understand a people or a culture is to learn their proverbs. This anthology, first published in 1984, compiles in dictionary form proverbs from the Islamic world, particularly the Middle East and North Africa. The Arabs were the first to gather and annotate their own proverbs – the earliest collections date from the ninth century AD. These proverbs – earthy, witty and wise – present a vivid portrait of the Islamic world, and provide a guide to the folk-wisdom of the Arabic-speaking and Islamic peoples.