Andre Clot: Harun Al-Rashid and the World of the Thousand and One Nights, Gebunden

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A symbol of the fabled Orient, Harun al Rashid, the caliph portrayed in The Thousand and One Nights , where we see him living grandly his palace in Baghdad, surrounded by his wives, his concubines, musicians, and learned men, is not merely a figure of legend. He was the son of a Yemenite slave who cleared his path to power, very probably by poisoning the reigning caliph, her older son. Harun reigned for a quarter-century, and was the most famous caliph of the Abbasid dynasty.
Through Arab chronicles, the author corrects our vision of Harun the Good', and gives a remarkable account of his development as a ruler. Though in Western countries he is remembered for the presents he sent to Charlemagne-notably the famous elephant, Abul Abbas-he was first and foremost a successful soldier who made war on the Byzantines. His empire was shaken by religious and social insurrections, and he did not shrink from annihilating the Barmecides, a powerful family whose wealth and influence he finally found unbearable. As a patron of pets and intellectuals, Harun contributed greatly to the cultural supremacy of Baghdad, whose merchants and navigators spread the name of the caliph throughout the world.