For many centuries, the East has attracted the curious gaze of a European, exciting his imagination and mind. Why did the Persian king Xerxes decide to carve the sea? How did the famous Carthaginian commander Hannibal manage to cross the Alps on elephants? Who was Shimon Bar-Kohba, the leader of the Jews, who dared to rebel against the power of the Romans? What connected the Mongol Khan Kublai with the famous traveler Marco Polo? How did the vassal of the Turkish Sultan, Muhammad Ali of Egypt, become the founder of modern Egypt? In Natalia Basovskaya's new book The Mysterious East, the reader will not only be able to find answers to these questions, but also witness the exciting adventures and fates of incredible people who once lived under the scorching sun of the east.