Collected over the centuries from India, Persia, and Arabia, and ranging from adventure fantasies, vivacious erotica, and animal fables, to pointed Sufi tales, these stories provided the daily entertainment of the medieval Islamic world at the height of its glory. No one knows exactly when a given story originated, and many circulated orally for centuries before being written down; but in the process of telling and retelling, they were modified to reflect the general life and customs of the Arab society that adapted them—a distinctive synthesis that marks the cultural and artistic history of Islam.

    

    Certainly no man has ever held the world championship longer — 28 years — or kept his powers so long. In his sixties, Lasker began what amounted to a fresh career in chess by playing his first serious game in ten years, and defeating Max Euwe, the man who was the following year to become world champion. The secret behind his extraordinary abilities may perhaps be found in Lasker’s wide knowledge of every phase of the game, and his ability to be independent of schools or fashions.This knowledge is reflected in the Manual of Chess, making it one of the great studies of the game, acclaimed by the chess world almost from the day it appeared. The book is one of the most thorough studies ever written, and though its main appeal is to the intermediate to skilled player, it begins its explanations at a level that can be understood by the beginner. Lasker analyzes basic methods of gaining advantages, exchange value of pieces, combinations, position play, the aesthetics of chess, and almost every other important aspect of the game. He examines dozens of different openings, including the Petroff Defense, the Hungarian Defense, King’s Bishop, Ponziani, Giuoco Piano, and Four Knights’ Game. He constantly illustrates his discussions with games played by the great modern masters. Lasker is always delightful reading, revealing a mind as quick to entertain and philosophize as it is to explain.One of the most rewarding features of the book is Lasker’s illumination and elaboration of the theories of William Steinitz. An interesting sidelight is that although Lasker always thought of himself as a disciple of Steinitz, he was actually an original, more versatile player, inclined to take calculated risks. His exposition of Steinitz’s thought and maxims, his principles of attack and evaluation, however, cannot help but be profitable to any chess player.

    In early manhood an admirer of Socrates, he later founded the famous school of philosophy in the grove Academus. Much else recorded of his life is uncertain; that he left Athens for a time after Socrates' execution is probable; that later he went to Cyrene, Egypt, and Sicily is possible; that he was wealthy is likely; that he was critical of 'advanced' democracy is obvious. He lived to be 80 years old. Linguistic tests including those of computer science still try to establish the order of his extant philosophical dialogues, written in splendid prose and revealing Socrates' mind fused with Plato's thought. In "Laches, Charmides, " and "Lysis, " Socrates and others discuss separate ethical conceptions. "Protagoras, Ion, " and "Meno" discuss whether righteousness can be taught. In "Gorgias, " Socrates is estranged from his city's thought, and his fate is impending. The "Apology" (not a dialogue), "Crito, Euthyphro, " and the unforgettable "Phaedo" relate the trial and death of Socrates and propound the immortality of the soul. In the famous "Symposium" and "Phaedrus, " written when Socrates was still alive, we find the origin and meaning of love. "Cratylus" discusses the nature of language. The great masterpiece in ten books, the "Republic, " concerns righteousness (and involves education, equality of the sexes, the structure of society, and abolition of slavery). Of the six so-called dialectical dialogues "Euthydemus" deals with philosophy; metaphysical "Parmenides" is about general concepts and absolute being; "Theaetetus" reasons about the theory of knowledge. Of its sequels, "Sophist" deals with not-being; "Politicus" with good and bad statesmanship and governments; "Philebus" with what is good. The "Timaeus" seeks the origin of the visible universe out of abstract geometrical elements. The unfinished "Critias" treats of lost Atlantis. Unfinished also is Plato's last work of the twelve books of "Laws" (Socrates is absent from it), a critical discussion of principles of law which Plato thought the Greeks might accept. The Loeb Classical Library's Plato is in twelve volumes.

    He further divides the modern period into seven time periods. "(I) The decay of Victorianism and the growth of a purely decorative art, (2) The rise and decline of the ^Esthetic Philosophy, (3) The muscu lar influence of Henley, (4) The Celtic revival in Ireland, (5) Rudyard Kipling and the ascendency of mechanism in art, (6) John Masefield and the return of the rhymed narrative, (7) The war and the appearance of The Georgians. " Poets included in this collection are Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson, William Watson, A E Housman, William Butler Yeates, Rudyard Kipling, J M Synge, G K Chesterton, Lord Dunsany, Joseph Campbell, James Joyce, Edward Shanks, Robert Graves, and many others.