The tales told be Shahrazad over a thousand and one nights to delay her execution by the vengeful King Shahriyar have become among the most popular in both Eastern and Western literature. From the epic adventures of 'Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp' and 'Sinbad the Sailor' to the farcical 'Young Woman and her Five Lovers' and the social criticism of 'The Tale of the Hunchback', the stories depict a fabulous world of all-powerful sorcerors, jinns imprisoned in bottles and enchanting princesses. But despite their imaginative extravagance, the Tales from the Thousand and One Nights are also anchored to everyday life by their bawdiness and realism, providing a full and intimate record of the medieval Eastern world.

In this selection, N.J. Dawood presents the reader with an unexpurgated translation of the finest and best-known tales, preserving their spirited narrative style in lively modern English. In his introduction he discusses their origins in the East and their differences from Classical Arabic literature, and examines English translations of the tales since the eighteenth century.