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‘So he rose and lighted one lamp after another, till he had lighted the whole eighty and the palace seemed to dance with brilliancy.’

Beginning with the legend of King Shahryr, whose anger at his queen’s infidelity leads him to murder a new wife each day, Arabian Nights weaves together ancient folklore and magic in an anthology of fantastical and evocative stories dating from the ninth century.

Rich with suspense, passion and tragedy, Sir Richard Burton’s celebrated translation continues to transport readers across oceans, to mystical lands and ancient palaces in tales such as ‘The Lovers of Bessorah’, The Fellah and His Wicked Wife’ and ‘The Hunchback’s Tale’.