English for High-Flyers

A reference book for those who wish to perfect their English

Why is it wrong to say 'of which three' instead of 'three of which'? Why should it be 'it is interesting' and not 'interesting is'? Did you know that we write and say 'insight into' and not 'insight in' and were you aware that the English word for alinea is 'paragraph' while a paragraaf is a 'section'?

These and hundreds of other linguistic pitfalls and grey areas have been skilfully identified, analysed and exp...

In the area of Boysun, present-day Uzbekistan, there is a living and vivid oral tradition based on stories from the epic Shah-nama. Barzu, son of Suhrab, is tragically killed at the hands of his famous father, the legendary hero Rustam.

The storytellers Jura Kamol and Mullo Ravshan composed two different versions of the story of Barzu in the Tajik as spoken in this area. This is the first printed version including a translation of these stories to appear.

The stories have been transcribed and...

'Beyond Orientalism: Sir William Jones (1746-1794), A Journey of Understanding' reconfigures our understanding of Orientalism, the formation of British Romanticism, colonialism, and late eighteenth-century British India. This volume examines the enduring legacy of Sir William Jones, a seminal figure in the intellectual exchange between East and West during the Enlightenment. Through a rigorous analysis of Jones's translations, annotations, and original compositions, the book elucidates his pr...

Gog en Magog, als archetypen van het kwaad, spelen sinds hun verschijning in de Bijbel en de Koran een belangrijke rol. Van plattegronden tot literatuur en teksten, van middeleeuws Europa tot de Byzantijnse en Arabische wereld, van Berber tot Perzische en Indonesische tradities, en tot in het heden met teksten op internet: steeds weer komen deze monsterlijke wezens naar voren.

Deze 'Bijbelse' figuren worden in gezien als aankondigers van grote veranderingen, en worden afgebeeld met hondenhoof...

'Expeditions in Persia: Exploring Qajar Persia in two 19th-Century Diaries' unveils the intricacies of 19th-century Persian expeditions through two complementary travelogues. The first account, with an anonymous author (attributed to Sir John Malcolm), offers a detailed diplomatic and historical perspective on the journey through Persia during an East India Company mission led by Sir John Malcolm. The second travelogue, written by Mirza Saleh, an Iranian intellectual and later diplomat, chron...

‘The Necklace of the Pleiades’ is een boek over Perzische literatuur, cultuur en religie door onderzoekers uit de hele wereld. Dit boek weerspiegelt de stand zaken op het gebied van de Perzische literaire studies en is niet alleen van wezenlijk belang voor onderzoekers van de Iranese cultuur, geschiedenis en religies, maar zeker ook voor onderzoekers op het gebied van het Midden-Oosten en Zuid-Aziatische studies.

The topics of the 24 essays range from the Persian Alexander romance, to Ferdow...

Language is more than just communication.

Learn Chinese in One Day discloses the

system of the Chinese characters and

analyzes how Confucianism and Taoism are

embedded in everyday language and how

language is used as a political, economic,

ethical, strategic and commercial tool.

Jeanne Boden (PhD) is author of

Contemporary Chinese Art. Post-socialist,

Post-traditional, Post-colonial; The

Wall behind China’s Open Door; Chinese

Propaganda Seducing the World; and

Cultural Quantum. A Practical ...

Abu ‘Abdollâh' Jafar ibn Mohammad Rudaki (c. 880 CE-941 CE) was a poet to the Samanid court which ruled much of Khorâsân (northeastern Persia) from its seat in Bukhara.

He is widely regarded as "the father of Persian poetry, for he was the first major poet to write in New Persian language, following the Arab conquest in the seventh and eighth centuries, which established Islam as the official religion, and made Arabic the predominant literary language in Persian-speaking lands for some two...

Persian passion play or ta`ziya depicts the role of the Prophets granddaughter Zeynab during the tragic death of the third Shiite Imam Hoseyn in Karbala in 680. This book depicts how Zeynab has become a role model in modern Iranian society, especially during the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War.

Mahnia A. Nematollahi Mahani worked as an editor at the Center for International Cultural Studies in Tehran, before she started her academic career in Persian Studies at Leiden University.