Paperback: Andalus, Ed. TJ Gorton

Eland £5.99

Erotic, tipsy and ribald; or lyrical, mystical and otherworldy: this selection of "songs of love and wine" from Moorish Spain samples the many moods deployed by Arabic poets of the medieval Golden Age in cities such as Seville, Cordoba and Granada. Introduced by editor-translator TJ Gorton, the result is a miniature jewel-box of an anthology, from the lovelorn raptures of Ibn Zaidun and lbn Zamrak's dreamy scenes of the Alhambra to the frank and down-to-earth women's poetry.