A story virtually unknown in the West, about two of the Middle East's most remarkable figures--Oman's Sultan Said and his rebellious daughter Princess Salme--comes to life in this narrative. From their capital on the sultry African island of Zanzibar, Sultan Said and his descendants were shadowed and all but shattered by the rise and fall of the nineteenth-century East African slave trade. "As shrewd, liberal, and enlightened a prince as Arabia has ever produced." That's how explorer Richard Burton described Seyyid Said Al ...
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A story virtually unknown in the West, about two of the Middle East's most remarkable figures--Oman's Sultan Said and his rebellious daughter Princess Salme--comes to life in this narrative. From their capital on the sultry African island of Zanzibar, Sultan Said and his descendants were shadowed and all but shattered by the rise and fall of the nineteenth-century East African slave trade. "As shrewd, liberal, and enlightened a prince as Arabia has ever produced." That's how explorer Richard Burton described Seyyid Said Al bin Sultan Busaid, who came to power in Oman in 1804 when he was fifteen years old. During his half-century reign, Said ruled with uncanny contradiction: as a believer in a tolerant Islam who gained power through bloodshed and perfidy, and as an open-minded, intellectually curious man who established relations with the West while building a vast commercial empire on the backs of tens of thousands of slaves. His daughter Salme, born to a concubine in a Zanzibar harem, scandalized her family and people by eloping to Europe with a German businessman in 1866, converting to Christianity, and writing the first-known autobiography of an Arab woman. Christiane Bird paints a stunning portrait of violent family feuds, international intrigues, and charismatic characters--from Sultan Said and Princess Salme to the wildly wealthy slave trader Tippu Tip and the indefatigable British antislavery crusader Dr. David Livingstone. "The Sultan's Shadow" is a brilliantly researched and irresistibly readable foray into the stark brutality and decadent beauty of a vanished world.
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Very Good. Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp.
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Very Good + in Very Good +, Not Price Clipped jacket. Book Complete number line from 1 to 9; minor edge wear; otherwise a solid, clean copy with no marking or underlining; collectible condition.
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Very Good in Very Good jacket. pp. xxii 3 374. 'The Sultan? Shadow is a brilliantly researched and irresistibly readable foray into the stark brutality and decadent beauty of a vanished world" 8vo.
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Like New in Like New jacket. First Edition, First Printing. Not price-clipped ($28.00 price intact). Published by Random House, 2010. Octavo. Book is like new with bumps to the top corners. Dust jacket is like new with light toning to the flaps and light creasing to the spine. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions or if you would like a photo. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Sag Harbor, New York.