This is a language book for those English speakers who want to get by in the Arabic-speaking world with the minimum of effort. (Or those proud perfectionists who insist on learning only a minimum amount of any language which they do not feel they have time to learn properly.)

From Morocco to the Gulf, from Beirut to Aden, Arabic is the language of the common people. It is the sheerest folly (and dangerous arrogance) to be unable to ask your way, to say sorry, to buy your food or your petrol, to summom help, to count to ten or a hundred, to greet a friend or bid him goodbye. Or, indeed, to conduct yourself in company without causing confusion and offence.

Very Simple Arabic (incorporating Simple Etiquette in Arabia) arms - or protects - the English-speaking visitor with the essential minimum. Anything less than this book instructs, and he is in danger of being lost forever.

This book will get the reader safely - if not garrulously - through everyday life.

Its sections include : Greetings and Departures, At the Airport, Shopping, While Out and About, and Leisure. It contains ten pages of useful phrases, elementary grammar, and a basic vocabulary. The etiquette section provides the essential guide to conduct. Peters charmingly illustrates the text with delightfully witty drawings. This little book is the distillation of years of travelling in the region for those less initiated than himself. It has proved the most popular book of its kind in print. James Peters is also the author of The Arab World Handbook.