The Mysterious East

For many centuries, the East has attracted the curious gaze of Europeans, stirring their imagination and minds. Why did the Persian king Xerxes decide to carve the sea? How did the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal manage to cross the Alps with elephants? Who was Simon Bar Kokhba, the leader of the Jews, who dared to rebel against the might of the Romans? What connected the Mongolian Khan Kublai with the famous traveler Marco Polo? How did the vassal of the Turkish sultan, Muhammad Ali of Egypt, become the founder of modern Egypt? In her new book The Mysterious East, Natalia Basovskaya offers readers not only answers to these questions but also a glimpse into thrilling adventures and the fates of incredible people who once lived under the scorching sun of the East.