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A tale inspired by ancient Mesopotamian lore and Baghdad's infamous summer of 2003 finds Turkish-American art dealer John Madison caught between his brother's and friend's respective agendas at the same time he is compelled to decipher a sinister biblical prophecy.

Elegant Effendi, an artist hired to create a book illuminating the Sultan's triumphant life, has been killed. The man who hired him, Enishte, has also been murdered. While on a recent trip to Italy, Enishte was entranced by painting that used perspective and figurative art abundantly. He encouraged his artists to use the same methods in their construction of the Sultan's book. However, this sort of art serves as an affront to Islam and may have led...

The National Frame rethinks the politics of art by focusing on the role of art in state governance. It argues that artistic practices, arts patronage and sponsorship, collecting and curating art, and the modalities of censorship, continue to be refracted through the conceptual lens of the nation-state, despite the globalization of the arts. Based on long-term ethnographic research in the art worlds of Istanbul and Berlin, The National Frame rethinks...

Understanding Islam provides a succinct, authoritative, and accessible introduction to one of the world's great religious traditions. The subjects covered include: the Prophet and his teachings; the Quran, Hadith, and Sharia law; the history of the Islamic empire; madrasas and jihad; Shia and Sunni Islam; the Five Pillars; art and divinity; Mecca, mosques, and mihrahs; angels, jinns, and holy men; and secular nationalism and Islamic revivalism. The...

How did the loss of one city change the history of Europe? In the Middle Ages, Constantinople's perfect geographic location-positioned along a land trade route between Europe and Asia as well as on a strategic seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean- made the city extremely desirous, and as a result, prone to attack. Under the control of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, Constantinople became known as "the Eye of the World," a center of government,...

In June 1897, the young Constantine Cavafy arrives in Paris on the last stop of a long European tour, a trip that will deeply shape his future and push him toward his poetic inclination. With this lyrical novel, tinged with a hallucinatory eroticism that unfolds over three unforgettable days, celebrated Greek author Ersi Sotiropoulos depicts Cavafy in the midst of a journey of self-discovery across a continent on the brink of massive change. He is...

In this global collaboration of essays, chefs and scientists advance culinary knowledge by testing hypotheses rooted in the physical and chemical properties of food. Using traditional and cutting-edge tools, ingredients, and techniques, these pioneers create, and sometimes revamp, dishes that respond to specific desires and serve up an original encounter with gastronomic practice. From the seemingly mundane to the food fantastic-from grilled cheese...

Essays, lectures, and interviews-on everything from gender relations to Ingmar Bergman to adventure travel-from the renowned diarist. In this collection, the author known for 'one of the most remarkable diaries in the history of letters' shares her unique perceptions of people, places, and the arts (Los Angeles Times). In the opening group of essays, 'Women and Men,' Anaïs Nin provides the kind of sensitive insights into the feminine psyche and...