There is a real wealth of books about Morocco, set in Morocco, or (increasingly) by Moroccans - and you won't regret having one or two along on a trip. Personal favourites include Paul Bowles's Fes novel,
The Spider's House
, Esther Freud's magic evocation of a childhood hippy trip to Marrakesh,
Hideous Kinky
, Walter Harris's evocation of the last days of feudal Morocco in the 1920s,
Morocco That Was
, and the various story collections of Mohammed Mrabet, impeccably rendered by Paul Bowles.
The main Internet bookstores -
Amazon
in particular (try both its .com and .co.uk sites) - are likely to yield the highest returns on the more esoteric books we've recommended, while Internet bookseller search sites such as
abebooks.com
and
bibliofind.com
are good for those out of print (o/p in the listings). You might also want to try a couple of specialist booksellers based in the UK, who will ship books worldwide: the
Maghreb Bookshop
, 45 Bruton Street, London WC1 (tel 020 7388 1840) supplies rare and out-of-print books on all aspects of North Africa, while
Keith Harris Books
, PO Box 207, Twickenham, TW2 (tel 020 8898 7789) is an excellent mail order specialist for books on Morocco.
General/travel
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Photographs
Ann and Yann Arthus-Bertrand
,
Morocco Seen From The Air
(Vendome Press, UK/US). Seek out this stunning, large-format book published in 1994 - it is a revelation - Moroccan cities, valleys, kasbahs, carpet souks captured from the air....
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History
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Anthropology
There is extensive anthropology literature on Morocco. Reviews below are just a selection of the more popular, not overly academic, books in print.
Donna Lee Bowen and Evelyn A. Early
(
eds
),
Everyday Life in the Muslim...
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Islam
The Koran
(Oxford University Press, UK/US). The Word of God as handed down to the Prophet is the basis of all Islam, so essential reading for anyone interested. There are dozens of editions but the Oxford edition is probably the clearest and...
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Art, architecture and crafts
In addition to the recommendations below, a number of large, glossy books on Moroccan jewellery, gardens, paintings, manuscripts, carpets, buildings, usually with French texts, are to be found in most of the larger bookshops in Morocco - notably at the...
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Food
Robert Carrier
,
Taste of Morocco
(Arrow, UK; o/p). Robert Carrier lived in Marrakesh for several months of each year and this beautifully illustrated cookbook reflects his love of Morocco and its distinctive cuisine - particularly the...
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Moroccan fiction/biography
By far the largest body of Moroccan fiction/biography published in English is the translations by the American writer Paul Bowles, who lived in Tangier from the 1940s until his death in 1999. Many of the small press editions duck in and out of print but...
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Set in Morocco
Once again, the late Paul Bowles is the outstanding figure in American and European fiction set in Morocco, so no apologies for splitting this section into "Bowles" and "Others". Though the "Others" do include a couple of...
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