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Paperback The Book of Saladin Book

ISBN: 1859842313

ISBN13: 9781859842317

The Book of Saladin

(Book #2 in the Islam Quintet Series)

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Format: Paperback

Condition: Very Good

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Book Overview

The Book of Saladin is the fictional memoir of Saladin, the Kurdish liberator of Jerusalem, as dictated to a Jewish scribe, Ibn Yakub. Saladin grants Ibn Yakub permission to talk to his wife and retainers so that he might present a full portrait in the Sultan's memoirs. A series of interconnected stories follows, tales brimming over with warmth, earthy humor and passions in which ideals clash with realities and dreams are confounded by desires. At the heart of the novel is an affecting love affair between the Sultan's favored wife, Jamila, and the beautiful Halina, a later addition to the harem. The novel charts the rise of Saladin as Sultan of Egypt and Syria and follows him as he prepares, in alliance with his Jewish and Christian subjects, to take Jerusalem back from the Crusaders. This is a medieval story, but much of it will be uncannily familiar to those who follow events in contemporary Cairo, Damascus, and Baghdad. Betrayed hopes, disillusioned soldiers and unrealistic alliances form the backdrop to The Book of Saladin . This description may be from another edition of this product.

Customer Reviews

5 customer ratings | 4 reviews

Rated 5 stars
Just Awesome!

This book has changed a few of my thought processes. I am not a fan of historical fiction by any means, in fact I bought this book on a whim as I had an interest in the Muslim world hit me without warning, and I don't regret it in the least. Not because it is historical fiction, but because it has help to expand my mind. I've always been interested in the Crusades since I was a very young child, but I've never stopped to...

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Rated 5 stars
A Superb Piece of Work

Tariq Ali's "The Book of Saladin" is the second in his "quintet" about Islam. Don't let that put you off, though, as there is no set order to read the series in - no characters carry over from one book to the next and the continuity throughout is in fact the relationship between Islam and other religions during times of upheaval. As the name suggests, "The Book of Saladin" is about that famous adversary of the Crusaders,...

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Rated 5 stars
ALLAH O AKKBAR !

Two thumbs up, Tariq Ali ! This is a story , wonderfully told,of Salah al Din's maturation, comming to power , becoming acharismatic leader and finally , conquering Al Kadisiya (Jerusalem) from the hands of Crusades in 1187. Among other colourful characters is the Sultana Jamila, extremely educated, intelligent and enlightened, unlike all the rest of the women in the harem. Respected and admired for her virtues, Jamila questions...

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Rated 5 stars
A powerful work of historical fiction.

This is a satisfying novel, told, despite its exotic settings, in sparse prose carrying a ring of authenticity reminiscent at times of Naguib Mahfouz. The book deals in complex and subtle people who question the nature of the relationship between body and soul and ponder the purposes of war, not in easy steretypes or generalisations, even in an area which has been traditionally replete with them. It is illuminationg to...

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