The beautifully written travel memoir of a Western woman's journey in Iran Honeymoon in Purdah is a book of sketches gathered over the course of one woman's journey in Iran. Through her, we meet the ordinary and extraordinary people of Iran--men and women whose lives extend beyond Western news stories of kidnappings, terrorism, and Islamic fundamentalism. Peppered with accounts of Iran's Islamic Revolution and political analyses of the country, Honeymoon in Purdah is a departure from our conventional perception of Iran. Alison Wearing give Iranians the chance to wander beyond headlines and stereotypes and in so doing, reveals the poetry of their lives.

First published in 2006. Purdah, which can be formal law or informal custom, involves keeping women segregated from society, restricting their independence and regulating their dress. This classic work, published in 1032 was the first accurate description of the institution of Purdah, its effects on the women of India and their rising revolt against it. Written by a woman who herself lived the life pictured in the books, this was a seminal book for the women's rights movement and general and Indian's women's movement in particular.

Cornelia Sorabji (1866-1952) was a pioneer in the tradition of Indian-Parsee women's literature in English. This collection of Sorabji's short stories reflects her fascination with orthodox Hindu women and her frustrated feminist ambitions to liberate them from their enforced or self-willeddomesticity.

This book, written by an English woman, is her perspective and experiences of women from Asia, spanning from the Indian to the Chinese. To quote her own words: "The Eastern woman is primarily a traditionalist. She is more closely bound by hereditary tendency than the woman of the West. One of her outstanding characteristics has lain for years in her dependency and passive reliance upon her husband for economic support and protection. Her very seclusion means to her, not that which the word would connote to the Westerner, slavery or imprisonment; to her, it is rather the mantle of protective care and interest thrown over her by her lord and master."

Admittedly women's perspectives are not much reflected in the discourse and agenda development planning and interventions. Due to lack of research there is tremendous scarcity of information about social condition of women among various Indian communities. This book is solely devoted to examine the social situation of Muslim Women of India in general and the state of West Bengal in particular. The situation of Muslim women of West Bengal, specially of Northern region of this State has been described in details. The present study seeks to explore: Role and status of Muslim women as well as their problems and prospects, Quality of Socio-economic life of the Muslilm women and the extent of changes that have occured among them, and Problems the Muslim women face towards their empowerment under contemporary changing world order. The book also highlights some of the plicy implications of major findings of the study. With its original data and fresh theoretical perspective the book will serve the interest of social scientists, policy makers and women activists.

Contributed papers.