Synopses & Reviews
The fourth novel in Tariq Ali"s 'Islam Quintet' is set in medieval Palermo, a Muslim city rivaling Baghdad and Cordoba in size and splendor. The year is 1153. The Normans occupy Siqqiliya, but Arab culture and language dominate the island and the court. Sultan Rujari (King Roger) surrounds himself with Muslim intellectuals, several concubines, and an administration presided over by gifted eunuchs.
In this captivating novel, Tariq Ali charts the life and loves of the medieval cartographer Muhammed al-Idrisi. Torn between his close friendship with the sultan and his friends who are leaving the island or plotting a resistance to Norman rule, Idrisi finds temporary solace in the harem; but, confronted by the common people of Noto and Catania and the Trusted One, his conscience is troubled.
A Sultan in Palermois a mythic novel in which pride, greed, and lust intermingle with resistance and greatness. It echoes a past that can still be heard today.
Synopsis
Tariq Ali is a writer and filmmaker. He has written more than a dozen books on world history and politics—including Pirates of the Caribbean, Bush in Babylon, The Clash of Fundamentalisms and The Obama Syndrome—as well as five novels in his Islam Quintet series and scripts for the stage and screen. He is an editor of the New Left Review and lives in London.
Synopsis
Set in medieval Palermo, this is the fourth novel in Tariq Ali's celebrated Islam Quintet.
Synopsis
Praise for the Islam Quintet:
"All human frailty and nobility is here ... an imaginative tour de force." Sunday Telegraphon Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree
'Grippingly well told, brilliantly paced, remarkably convincing in its historical depiction of a fateful relationship, a narrative for our time, haunted by distant events and characters who are closer to us than we dreamed.' Edward Said on The Book of Saladin
'Tales of anguish, longing, lust, and love all find their way to The Stone Woman'"Ali paints a vivid picture of a fading world.' New York Times Book Reviewon The Stone Woman
About the Author
Tariq Aliis a writer and filmmaker. He has written more than a dozen books on world history and politics, as well as scripts for the stage and screen. He is an editor of the New Left Reviewand lives in London.