THE ARABIAN NIGHTS: TALES FROM A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS [The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights ] BY Burton, Richard Francis(Author)Paperback 01-Jun-2004

by Richard Francis Burton

Genres: Classics

Paperback

About the author

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian, and African languages.

Burton's best-known achievements include travelling in disguise to Mecca, an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights (also commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after Andrew Lang's adaptation), bringing the Kama Sutra to publication in English, and journeying with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans led by Africa's greatest explorer guide, Sidi Mubarak Bombay, utilizing route information by Indian and Omani merchants who traded in the region, to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Burton extensively criticized colonial policies (to the detriment of his career) in his works and letters. He was a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behaviour, travel, falconry, fencing, sexual practices, and ethnography. A unique feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing remarkable observations and unexpurgated information.

He was a captain in the army of the East India Company serving in India (and later, briefly, in the Crimean War). Following this he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa and led an expedition guided by the locals and was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika. In later life he served as British consul in Fernando Po, Santos, Damascus and, finally, Trieste. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a knighthood (KCMG) in 1886.

Reviews

[Nameless]

Richard Burton's sole purpose was to entertain the west/europeans at the expense of muslims.

This book does not represent Islam in any way.
I have been reading another book that gives a history/background of pre-islamic Arab culture and the author has completely failed to represent it in this book EXCEPT that yes, they were rich and generous.

The author only picked one invented topic (because he found it funny and people like him love these kind of tales)

And I quote the author

'For there never was nor is there one chaste woman upon the face of earth'

Imagine one of those zio-terrorists raiding Palestinian homes and finding their clothes, taking pictures in them decided to write a story on them, it would be this.


Worst read of the year.
-5 star ⭐

[Merna Hattem]

Zero ⭐

Arabian Nights are filled with marvelous and entertaining stories. Yet, the stories chosen in this book are by no means entertaining. These stories only intend to show Islam and women in the worst possible image.

The translation is old, literal and awful without any sidenotes. I gave up reading this book after literally pushing myself through more than 3 or 4 stories.

[Ibtissam · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is book is so disgusting.
I didn't finished because it's full of racism and islamophobia, as a Muslim it's so offensive and I hate how they describe black people.
I threw it in the garbage because I don't support racism.

[Jessie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not recommended for modern readers since the text was written in 19th century. No notes / explanation in this book.