Recounts the love story behind the building of the Taj Mahal in India, discussing how it was constructed and providing information on Indian culture.
Tenggren’s Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights
The city is under siege! The King, enraged by his wife’s dishonesty, has vowed to marry every young woman in the city only to have each bride beheaded the following day at sunrise. But Scheherazade, the beautiful and wise daughter of the King’s vizier, foils the King’s plans by telling stories so captivating and imaginative that the King delays her death every day to hear how each enchanted tale ends. From “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp” and “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” to “Sinbad the Sailor,” the most famous stories from the great classic A Thousand and One Nights comprise this collection of beautifully told tales–brought powerfully to life by the vivid illustrations of Gustaf Tenggren.
Tales of the Alhambra
Tales of the Alhambra is a collection of essays, verbal sketches, and stories by Washington Irving.
Shortly after completing a biography of Christopher Columbus in 1828, Washington Irving traveled from Madrid, where he had been staying, to Granada, Spain. At first sight, he described it as “a most picturesque and beautiful city, situated in one of the loveliest landscapes that I have ever seen.” Irving was preparing a book called A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada, a history of the years 1478–1492, and was continuing his research on the topic. He immediately asked the then-governor of the historic Alhambra Palace as well as the archbishop of Granada for access to the palace, which was granted because of Irving’s celebrity status. Aided by a 17-year old guide named Mateo Ximenes, Irving was inspired by his experience to write Tales of the Alhambra. Throughout his trip, he filled his notebooks and journals with descriptions and observations though he did not believe his writing would ever do it justice. He wrote, “How unworthy is my scribbling of the place.”