Alamut
by Vladimir Bartol
translated and with an afterword by Michael Biggins
ISBN: 0-9720287-3-0
List Price: $22.95 Web Special: $17.95

Circa 1092 A.D. The fortress of Alamut, northern Iran.

With the beautiful gazelle-eyed Halima and the other women he’s bought from the slave markets of Basra and Baghdad, along with a secret substance he's cultivated in the gardens of Alamut, the Master of Alamut—the self-proclaimed prophet, Hasan ibn Sabbah—has created a virtual paradise on earth that will help to transform his corps of elite fighters into “living daggers” that he will use to destroy his enemies and anyone else standing in his way to domination.

Alamut is the first-ever English translation of Slovenian writer Vladimir Bartol’s near-forgotten masterpiece—a bestseller across Europe and translated into 19 languages nearly 60 years after its initial publication—based on the life and legend of the original “assassin” and world’s first political terrorist, 11th century Ismaili leader Hasan ibn Sabbah.

Revered by millions for his brilliance, and disdained by countless others for the reign of terror he spawned with his suicide missions, ibn Sabbah has inspired scores of writers throughout the centuries, including Rimbaud, Nerval, Borges and William Burroughs.

Much more than a prophetic treatise or political allegory on terrorism, Alamut is a gripping story of one man’s unmanacled drive to play God and the human price paid by the innocent to fuel that drive.

With an Afterword by the translator.

Vladimir Bartol (1903-1967) was one of Yugoslavia’s leading intellects and the author of plays, short stories and theater reviews. He died in Ljubljana with most of his work out of print and virtually unknown among his countrymen.

Michael Biggins has translated works by a number of Slovenia’s leading contemporary writers. He currently curates the library collections for Russian and East European studies and teaches in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, both at the University of Washington in Seattle.