World Academy: Discover South America, Hawaii, Japan & Beyond

Lonely Planet Oman, UAE & Arabian Peninsula is your passport to all the most relevant and up-to-date advice on what to see, what to skip, and what hidden discoveries await you.

FILM Slumdog millionaire is the story of an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai; who with the whole nation watching; he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who wants to be a Millionaire?"

Acclaimed historian David McCullough delivers a first-rate drama of the sweeping human undertaking that led to the creation of the Panama Canal. Winner of the National Book Award for history, the Francis Parkman Prize, the Samuel Eliot Morison Award, and the Cornelius Ryan Award (for the best book of the year on international affairs).

Henri Charrière, nicknamed "Papillon," for the butterfly tattoo on his chest, was convicted in Paris in 1931 of a murder he did not commit. Sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, he became obsessed with one goal: escape. He was eventually sent to the notorious prison, Devil's Island, a place from which no one had ever escaped.

An insightful and remarkable look at the role of women in Oman based on Wikan's fieldwork as well as her personal experiences and impressions of the place.

Tremlett captures the Spanish character, history and modern politics in this masterful portrait, interweaving the story of his love for the country (where he has lived for 20 years) with interviews, anecdotes and observation.

A popular history by the author of A History of God. Armstrong tackles big subjects -- and this book is no exception. It's a comprehensive, concise portrait of the city over the last 5,000 years.

Bigger and better than ever (the third edition of the best-selling original), we can't keep our hands off this celebration of the world. Each country, no matter how big or small, gets a colorful double-page spread in this glossy A-to-Z of travel from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

Called a landmark, masterpiece and essential to understanding the Middle East, Hourani's acclaimed chronicle of the political, spiritual, religious and cultural traditions of the Arab peoples is brought up to date with an afterword by noted Islamic scholar Malise Ruthven.

Whether you call it Byzantium, Constantinople, or Istanbul, the “old Turkish hand” John Freely tells the story of each creation and decline up to today’s Istanbul under the Turkish Republic. Spirited and colorful, Freely gives his readers a lively account of the turmoil each incarnation brought. In addition to “page turning history”, Freely gives a complete listing of monuments & museums in the city - he has lived there for decades. This is the one to read on Istanbul if you have a short list of books and limited time to get into its history.

The author left Turkey at age 18 for the US, returning 15 years later to visit her birthplace and family. Intrigued upon learning that her grandmother had lived in a harem, she interviewed aunts and other family members about their recollections. About that same time (mid 1970’s) the Harem of Topkapi Palace was opened to visitors. With thoughtful research and richly illustrated, Croutier pieces together a realistic description of daily life in the Sultan’s Harem. Her fascinating insights into customs, food and ceremony of the Palace through 450 hundred years, make this an enjoyable read. The addition of family photographs and an amusing chapter about Western misconceptions of the term “harem” sets this work apart from all other books of its kind.

Drawing on sharp, full-color photographs of more than 200 objects excavated from Pompeii and Herculaneum, Roberts, a curator at the British Museum, discusses what life was like in the ancient cities. He covers everything from birth certificates to the prevalence of bakeries and taverns.

Award-winning author Ondaatje returns to his native Sri Lanka in this hypnotic travelogue. His lovingly traced family memoirs are interspersed with poetry and ruminations on the island's post-colonial history.

A compelling account of the politics, intrigue and engineering challenges of the Suez Canal. It's in part a portrait of Franco-Egyptian relations and the making of the modern Middle East. The Canal was inaugurated to great fanfare on November 17, 1869.

This close-up portrait of Dubai by an award-winning journalist describes how the city transformed from a little-known village in 1960 to the cutting-edge capitalist metropolis and tourist haven it is today.

Award-winning journalist Jim Krane charts the history of Dubai from its earliest days, considers the influence of the family who has ruled it since the nineteenth century, and looks at the effect of the global economic downturn on a place that many tout as a blueprint for a more stable Middle East.

This exuberant travelogue by an award-winning writer takes stock of Sri Lanka, from the capital city of Colombo through the remotest interior. Gimlette mixes his narrative with colonial history and plenty of lucid observations.

Pham recounts the story of his father's life during the French occupation, Japanese invasion and the American War, weaving such momentous events with anecdotes from his childhood and details of family, friends, food and daily life.

A wonderful portrait of Hong Kong by one of our favorite travel writers. Morris enumerates the many personal pleasures of the city, deftly interweaving reportage, history and culture.

As the Western world struggles to comprehend the paradoxes of modern Turkey, Tales from the Expat Harem reveals its most personal nuances. This illuminating anthology provides a window into the country from the perspective of thirty-two expatriates from seven different nations—artists, entrepreneurs, Peace Corps volunteers, archaeologists, missionaries, and others—who established lives in Turkey for work, love, or adventure. Through narrative essays covering the last four decades, these diverse women unveil the mystique of the “Orient,” describe religious conflict, embrace cultural discovery, and maneuver familial traditions, customs, and responsibilities. Poignant, humorous, and transcendent, the essays take readers to weddings and workplaces, down cobbled Byzantine streets, into boisterous bazaars along the Silk Road, and deep into the feminine stronghold of steamy Ottoman bathhouses. The outcome is a stunning collection of voices from women suspended between two homes as they redefine their identities and reshape their world views.

This informative handbook traces Greek art and architecture from the third millennium to the first century B.C.