"To understand a people, acquaint yourself with their proverbs" runs an Arab adage, and here are the books that do just that. The popular Apricots Tomorrow, a selection of sayings from the Gulf region, is joined by sister titles The Son of a Duck is a Floater and the newest book in the series, Unload your own Donkey, which draws on sayings from the Maghreb and Levant. Paralleling age-old Arabic sayings with English equivalents, the proverbs highlight the uncanny similarity of inherited wisdom in both East and West.