Algerian Desert, 1833 Held captive in a Bedouin camp, Susannah Sutcliffe was bid to dress in scandalous silks and dance for the sheikh's guests. The request wasn't new to Susannah--but the presence of English diplomat Alex Grayfield was a shock she had not anticipated! Handsome and charming, Alex exuded a powerful masculinity that Susannah found irresistible...and he was unmistakably aroused by her sensual dance. Soon, Susannah had a plan to escape her desert captors: convince Alex to rescue her--by seducing him....

Notorious for the delight he took in tweaking the sexual taboos of the Victorian age-as well as the delight he took in the resulting shock of his bashful peers-British adventurer, linguist, and author CAPTAIN SIR RICHARD FRANCIS BURTON (1821-1890) is perhaps best remembered for his unexpurgated translation of the Eastern classic The One Thousand and One Nights, more famously known today as The Arabian Nights. Originating in Persian, Indian, and Arabic sources as far back as the ninth century AD, this collection of bawdy tales-which Burton was the first to bring to English readers in uncensored form-has exerted incalculable influence on modern literature. It represents one of the earliest examples of a framing story, as young Shahrazad, under threat of execution by the King, postpones her death by regaling him with these wildly entertaining stories over the course of 1,001 nights. The stories themselves feature early instances of sexual humor, satire and parody, murder mystery, horror, and even science fiction. Burton's annotated 16-volume collection, as infamous as it is important, was first published between 1885 and 1888, and remains an entertainingly naughty read. Volume VI includes: [ "Sindbad the Seaman and Sinbad the Landsman" [ "The City of Brass" [ "The Craft and Malice of Woman" [ "The Rake's Trick Against the Chaste Wife" [ "The Lady and Her Two Lovers" [ "The Woman Who Made Her Husband Sift Dust" [ "The Enchanted Spring" [ "The Wife's Device to Cheat her Husband" [ "The Goldsmith and the Cashmere Singing-Girl" [ "The Lady and Her Five Suitors" [ "The Fox and the Folk" [ and many others.

Americans have always shown a fascination with the people, customs, and legends of the "East--witness the popularity of the stories of the Arabian Nights, the performances of Arab belly dancers and acrobats, the feats of turban-wearing vaudeville magicians, and even the antics of fez-topped Shriners. In this captivating volume, Susan Nance provides a social and cultural history of this highly popular genre of Easternized performance in America up to the Great Depression. According to Nance, these traditions reveal how a broad spectrum of Americans, including recent immigrants and impersonators, behaved as producers and consumers in a rapidly developing capitalist economy. In admiration of the Arabian Nights, people creatively reenacted Eastern life, but these performances were also demonstrations of Americans' own identities, Nance argues. The story of Aladdin, made suddenly rich by rubbing an old lamp, stood as a particularly apt metaphor for how consumer capitalism might benefit each person. The leisure, abundance, and contentment that many imagined were typical of Eastern life were the same characteristics used to define "the American dream." The recent success of Disney's Aladdin movies suggests that many Americans still welcome an interpretation of the East as a site of incredible riches, romance, and happy endings. This abundantly illustrated account is the first by a historian to explain why and how so many Americans sought out such cultural engagement with the Eastern world long before geopolitical concerns became paramount.