Consisting of sixty short stories by forty women writers from across the Arab world, this collection opens numerous windows onto Arab culture and society and offers keen insights into what Arab women feel and think. The stories deal not only with feminist issues but also with topics of a social, cultural, and political nature. Different styles and modes of writing are represented, along with a diversity of techniques and creative approaches, and the authors present many points of view and various ways of solving problems and confronting situations in everyday life. 305pp, USA. STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK.

Now available in paperback. The Pulitzer Prize winning account of the Second World War in North Africa during the years 1942 to 1943. Illustrated with contemporary b/w photographs. Index, sources, notes, 681pp, USA. LITTLE BROWN UK, 0349116369

A survey in the 'Peoples of Africa' series. Covers the history of Berbers in antiquity, through Roman times, the spread of Islam, and the impact of Arab and Ottoman empires. Also examines Berber society and nomadic culture. Index, bib, notes, b/w photos & illus, maps, 350pp, UK . BLACKWELL PUBLISHING.

The myth of Kahina has provided ideological armature for use in anticolonial struggles, North African nationalism, Berber nationalism and Arab Feminism. It has also been used to justify incursions by groups who used the legend to articulate the region as Arab, French, Berber or Jewish. This book looks at how memories are transformed and shaped by those recounting the legend orally as well as by historians writing about North Africa, Islam and French colonial rule in the region. BNS, USA. HEINEMANN USA INC, 0325002533

The Duke of Pirajno arrived in North Africa in 1924 and worked as a doctor for the next eighteen years in Libya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somaliland. These memoirs describe his encounters with the Berber and the Tuareg amongst others and the effects of war. Index, gloss, b/w illus, 263pp, UK. ELAND.

A true story of political intrigue in the Sahara Desert during the Second World War. The author describes the exploits of the Zerzura Club, a group of desert explorers and adventurers who mapped the Desert for military and espionage reasons. Characters featured include Major Ralph Bagnold and Count Ladislaus Almasy Illustrated with b/w photographs. Index, bib, notes, gloss, maps, xiii, 302pp, UK. WESTVIEW.

Twenty-six short stories covering Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia. 221pp, UK. BANIPAL PUBLISHING.

More than forty years after his death, Laszlo Almasy's name would become famous in Anthony Minghella's film The English Patient. But who was he really? This wide ranging investigation of Almasy's life and career reveals an even more complex and enigmatic figure than Hollywood allowed. Almasy was actually one of the first desert explorers and he made many important discoveries, a figure the Bedouin called 'The Father of the Dunes.' Index, bib, 16 b/w plates, 288pp, UK. PENGUIN BOOKS LTD(UK).

Using new analysis of textual, epigraphic and archaeological records within the Vandal kingdoms of North Africa, this study reassesses the varied body of written material that has survived in Africa, and questions its authorship, audience and function. BNS, 350pp, UK. ASHGATE PUBLISHERS.

Now in paperback. The story of Jasper Maskelyne, a world famous stage magician of the 1930s who volunteered his unusual skills to the British during the Second World War. He was sent to Egypt where he led a team of stage-hands and camouflage experts and 'disappeared' the entire Suez Canal from the German bombers, created a fake habour to lure away attackers from Alexandria and comjured up a dummy army in the desert at El Alamein, under the eye of the German Afrika Korps. B/w illus, x, 342pp, UK. CASSELL.

Using a selection of over 200 photographs, many of them previously unpublished, the author captures the spirit of Wilfred Thesiger's life and travels in North and East Africa, the Middle East and Asia. 223pp, UK. HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS, 0002572249

An account of the philosopher's thoughts on the French imperial project with regards to North Africa. Index, bib, notes, xxxviii, 277pp, USA. JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS, 0801877563