This reader consists of the full Arabic texts of eleven short stories by established Egyptian, Iraqi, Syrian and Jordanian writers. The earliest story, written in 1929, is by the Egyptian Mahmud Tahir Lashin; and the most recent, written in 1972, is by the Iraqi writer, Fuad al-Takarli. Each story is supplemented by an introduction, with biographical information about the author, placing him in his literary context; a description of the contents; and a brief analysis of the story itself, in English. Ideal for students of Arabic language and literature, the aim of this collection is to encourage a literary appreciation of modern Arabic texts and an understanding of some of the cultural conflicts reflected in the writings. Writers included are Ghalib Halasa, Yahya Haqqi, Yusuf Idris, Idwar El Kharrat and Zakariyya Tamir.