title: Moorish architecture

text: Various types of interlacing lozenge-like motifs are heavily featured on the surface of minarets starting in the Almohad period (12th–13th centuries) and are later found in other decoration such as carved stucco along walls in Marinid and Nasrid architecture, eventually becoming a standard feature in the western Islamic ornamental repertoire in combination with arabesques. This motif, typically called "sebka" (meaning "net"), is believed by some scholars to have originated with the large interlacing arches in the 10th-century extension of the Great Mosque of Cordoba by Caliph al-Hakam II. It was then miniaturized and widened into a repeating net-like pattern that can cover surfaces. This motif, in turn, had many detailed variations. One common version, called "darj wa ktaf" ("step and shoulder") by Moroccan craftsmen, makes use of alternating straight and curved lines which cross each other on their symmetrical axes, forming a motif that looks roughly like a fleur-de-lys or palmette shape. Another version, also commonly found on minarets in alternation with the "darj wa ktaf", consists of interlacing multifoil/polylobed arches which form a repeating partial trefoil shape.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Geometric patterns, most typically making use of intersecting straight lines which are rotated to form a radiating star-like pattern, were common in Islamic architecture generally and across Moorish architecture. These are found in carved stucco and wood decoration, and most notably in "zellij" mosaic tilework which became commonplace in Moorish architecture from the Marinid and Nasrid period onward. Other polygon motifs are also found, often in combination with arabesques. In addition to "zellij" tiles, geometric motifs were also predominant in the decoration and composition of wooden ceilings. One of the most famous examples of such ceilings, considered the masterpiece of its kind, is the ceiling of the "Salón de Embajadores" in the Comares Palace at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The ceiling, composed of 8,017 individual wooden pieces joined together into a pyramid-like dome, consists of a recurring 16-pointed star motif which is believed to have symbolized the Seven Heavens of Paradise described in the Qur'an (specifically the "Surat al-Mulk", which is also inscribed at the ceiling's base). Like other stucco and wood decoration, it would have originally been painted in different colours order to enhance its motifs.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Many Islamic monuments feature inscriptions of one kind or another which serve to either decorate or inform, or both. Arabic calligraphy, as in other parts of the Muslim world, was also an art form. Many buildings had foundation inscriptions which record the date of their construction and the patron who sponsored it. Inscriptions could also feature Qur'anic verses, exhortations of God, and other religiously significant passages. Early inscriptions were generally written in the Kufic script, a style where letters were written with straight lines and had fewer flourishes. At a slightly later period, mainly in the 11th century, Kufic letters were enhanced with ornamentation, particularly to fill the empty spaces that were usually present above the letters. This resulted in the addition of floral forms or arabesque backgrounds to calligraphic compositions.


title: Moorish architecture

text: In the 12th century the cursive "Naskh" script began to appear, though it only became commonplace in monuments from the Marinid and Nasrid period (13th–15th century) onward. Kufic was still employed, especially for more formal or solemn inscriptions such as religious content. However, from the 13th century onward Kufic became increasingly stylized and almost illegible. In the decoration of the Alhambra, one can find examples of "Knotted" Kufic, a particularly elaborate style where the letters tie together in intricate knots. This style is also found in other parts of the Islamic world and may have had its origins in Iran. The extensions of the letters could turn into strips or lines that continued to form more motifs or form the edges of a cartouche encompassing the rest of the inscription. As a result, Kufic script could be used in a more strictly decorative form, as the starting point for an interlacing or knotted motif that could be woven into a larger arabesque background.


title: Moorish architecture

text: "Muqarnas" (also called "mocárabe" in Spain), sometimes referred to as "honeycomb" or "stalactite" carvings, consists of a three-dimensional geometric prismatic motif which is among the most characteristic features of Islamic architecture. This technique originated further east in Iran before spreading across the Muslim world. It was first introduced into al-Andalus and the western Maghreb by the Almoravids, who made early use of it in early 12th century in the "Qubba Ba'adiyyin" in Marrakesh and in the Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fes. While the earliest forms of muqarnas in Islamic architecture were used as squinches or pendentives at the corners of domes, they were quickly adapted to other architectural uses. In the western Islamic world they were particularly dynamic and were used, among other examples, to enhance entire vaulted ceilings, fill in certain vertical transitions between different architectural elements, and even to highlight the presence of windows on otherwise flat surfaces.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Tilework, particularly in the form of mosaic tilework called "zellij", is a standard decorative element along lower walls and for the paving of floors across the region. It consists of hand-cut pieces of faience in different colours fitted together to form elaborate geometric motifs, often based on radiating star patterns. Zellij made its appearance in the region during the 10th century and became widespread by the 14th century during the Marinid and Nasrid period. It may have been inspired or derived from Byzantine mosaics and then adapted by Muslim craftsmen for faience tiles.


title: Moorish architecture

text: In the traditional Moroccan craft of "zellij"-making, the tiles are first fabricated in glazed squares, typically 10 cm per side, then cut by hand into a variety of pre-established shapes (usually memorized by heart) necessary to form the overall pattern. This pre-established repertoire of shapes combined to generate a variety of complex patterns is also known as the "hasba" method. Although the exact patterns vary from case to case, the underlying principles have been constant for centuries and Moroccan craftsmen are still adept at making them today.


title: Moorish architecture

text: A "riad" (sometimes spelled "riyad"; ) is an interior garden found in many Moorish palaces and mansions. It is typically rectangular and divided into four parts along its central axes, with a fountain at its middle. Riad gardens probably originated in Persian architecture (where it is also known as "chahar bagh") and became a prominent feature in Moorish palaces in Spain (such Madinat al-Zahra, the Aljaferia, and the Alhambra). In Morocco, they became especially widespread in the palaces and mansions of Marrakesh, where the combination of available space and warm climate made them particularly appealing. The term is nowadays applied in a broader way to traditional Moroccan houses that have been converted into hotels and tourist guesthouses.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Many royal palaces were also accompanied by vast pleasure gardens, sometimes built outside the main defensive walls or within their own defensive enclosure. This tradition is evident in the gardens of the Madinat al-Zahra built by the Caliphs of Cordoba (10th century), in the Agdal Gardens south of the Kasbah of Marrakesh created by the Almohads (12th century), the Mosara Garden created by the Marinids north of their palace-city of Fes el-Jdid (13th century), and the Generalife created by the Nasrids east of the Alhambra (13th century).


title: Moorish architecture

text: Mosques are the main place of worship in Islam. Muslims are called to prayer five times a day and participate in prayers together as a community, facing towards the "qibla" (direction of prayer). Every neighbourhood normally had one or many mosques to accommodate the spiritual needs of its residents. Historically, there was a distinction between regular mosques and "Friday mosques" or "great mosques", which were larger and had a more important status by virtue of being the venue where the "khutba" (sermon) was delivered on Fridays. Friday noon prayers were considered more important and were accompanied by preaching, and also had political and social importance as occasions where news and royal decrees were announced, as well as when the current ruler's name was mentioned. In the early Islamic era there was typically only one Friday mosque per city, but over time Friday mosques multiplied until it was common practice to have one in every neighbourhood or district of the city. Mosques could also frequently be accompanied by other facilities which served the community.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Mosque architecture in Al-Andalus and the Maghreb was heavily influenced from the beginning by major well-known mosques in early cultural centers like the Great Mosque of Kairouan and the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Accordingly, most mosques in the region have roughly rectangular floor plans and follow the hypostyle format: they consist of a large prayer hall upheld and divided by rows of horseshoe arches running either parallel or perpendicular to the "qibla" wall (the wall towards which prayers faced). The "qibla" (direction of prayer) was always symbolized by a decorative niche or alcove in the "qibla" wall, known as a "mihrab". Next to the mihrab there was usually a symbolic pulpit known as a "minbar", usually in the form of a staircase leading to a small kiosk or platform, where the imam would stand to deliver the "khutba". The mosque also normally included, close to entrance, a "sahn" (courtyard) which often had fountains or water basins to assist with ablutions. In early periods this courtyard was relatively minor in proportion to the rest of the mosque, but in later periods it became a progressively larger until it was equal in size to the prayer hall and sometimes larger. Medieval hypostyle mosques also frequently followed the "T-type" model established in the Almohad period. In this model the aisle or "nave" between the arches running towards the mihrab (and perpendicular to the "qibla" wall) was wider than the others, as was also the aisle directly in front of and along the "qibla" wall (running parallel to the "qibla" wall); thus forming a "T"-shaped space in the floor plan of the mosque which was often accentuated by greater decoration (e.g. more elaborate arch shapes around it or decorative cupola ceilings at each end of the "T").


title: Moorish architecture

text: Lastly, mosque buildings were distinguished by their minarets: towers from which the muezzin issues the call to prayer to the surrounding city. (This was historically done by the muezzin climbing to the top and projecting his voice over the rooftops, but nowadays the call is issued over modern megaphones installed on the tower.) Minarets traditionally have a square shaft and are arranged in two tiers: the main shaft, which makes up most of its height, and a much smaller secondary tower above this which is in turn topped by a finial of copper or brass spheres. Some minarets in North Africa have octagonal shafts, though this is more characteristic of certain regions or periods. Inside the main shaft a staircase, and in other cases a ramp, ascends to the top of the minaret.


title: Moorish architecture

text: The whole structure of a mosque was also orientated or aligned with the direction of prayer, such that mosques were sometimes orientated in a different direction from the rest of the buildings or streets around it. This geographic alignment, however, varied greatly from period to period. Nowadays it is standard practice across the Muslim world that the direction of prayer is the direction of the shortest distance between oneself and the Kaaba in Mecca. In Morocco, this corresponds to a generally eastern orientation (varying slightly depending on your exact position). However, in early Islamic periods there were other interpretations of what the "qibla" should be. In the western Islamic world (the Maghreb and al-Andalus), in particular, early mosques often had a southern orientation, as can be seen in major early mosques like the Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fes. This was based on a reported "hadith" of the Islamic prophet Muhammad which stated that "what is between the east and west is a "qibla"", as well as on a popular view that mosques should not be aligned towards the Kaaba but rather that they should follow the cardinal orientation of the Kaaba itself (which is a rectangular structure with its own geometric axes), which is in turn aligned according to certain astronomical references (e.g. its minor axis is aligned with the sunrise of the summer solstice).


title: Moorish architecture

text: Synagogues had a very different layout from mosques but in North Africa and Al-Andalus they often shared similar decorative trends as the traditional Islamic architecture around them, such as colourful tilework and carved stucco, though later synagogues in North Africa were built in other styles too. Notable examples of historic synagogues in Spain include the Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca in Toledo (rebuilt in its current form in 1250), the Synagogue of Cordoba (1315), and the Synagogue of El Tránsito in Toledo (1355–1357). In Morocco they include the Ibn Danan Synagogue in Fes, the Slat al-Azama Synagogue in Marrakesh, and the Beth-El Synagogue in Casablanca, though numerous other examples exist. One of the most famous historic synagogues in Tunisia is the 19th-century El Ghriba synagogue.


title: Moorish architecture

text: The madrasa was an institution which originated in northeastern Iran by the early 11th century and was progressively adopted further west. These establishments provided higher education and served to train Islamic scholars, particularly in Islamic law and jurisprudence ("fiqh"). The madrasa in the Sunni world was generally antithetical to more "heterodox" religious doctrines, including the doctrine espoused by the Almohad dynasty. As such, in the westernmost parts of the Islamic world it only came to flourish in the late 13th century, after the Almohads, starting especially under the Marinid and Hafsid dynasty. To dynasties like the Marinids, madrasas also played a part in bolstering the political legitimacy of their rule. They used this patronage to encourage the loyalty of the country's influential but independent religious elites and also to portray themselves to the general population as protectors and promoters of orthodox Sunni Islam. Finally, madrasas also played an important role in training the scholars and elites who operated the state bureaucracy. Madrasas also played a supporting role to major learning institutions of the region like the Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fes; in part because, unlike the mosque, they provided accommodations for students who came from outside the city. Many of these students were poor, seeking sufficient education to gain a higher position in their home towns, and the madrasas provided them with basic necessities such as lodging and bread. However, the madrasas were also teaching institutions in their own right and offered their own courses, with some Islamic scholars making their reputation by teaching at certain madrasas.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Madrasas were generally centered around a main courtyard with a central fountain, off which other rooms could be accessed. Student living quarters were typically distributed on an upper floor around the courtyard. Many madrasas also included a prayer hall with a mihrab, though only the Bou Inania Madrasa of Fes officially functioned as a full mosque and featured its own minaret.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Most Muslim graves are traditionally simple and unadorned, but in North Africa the graves of important figures were often covered in a domed structure (or a cupola of often pyramidal shape) called a "qubba" (also spelled "koubba"). This was especially characteristic for the tombs of "saints" such as "wali"s and marabouts: individuals who came to be venerated for their strong piety, reputed miracles, or other mystical attributes. Many of these existed within the wider category of Islamic mysticism known as Sufism. Some of these tombs became the focus of entire religious complexes built around them, known as a "zawiya" (also spelled "zaouia"; ). They typically included a mosque, school, and other charitable facilities. Such religious establishments were major centers of Sufism across the region and grew in power and influence over the centuries, often associated with specific Sufi Brotherhoods or schools of thought.


title: Moorish architecture

text: A "funduq" (also spelled "foundouk" or "fondouk"; ) was a caravanserai or commercial building which served as both an inn for merchants and a warehouse for their goods and merchandise. In North Africa some funduqs also housed the workshops of local artisans. As a result of this function, they also became centers for other commercial activities such as auctions and markets. They typically consisted of a large central courtyard surrounded by a gallery, around which storage rooms and sleeping quarters were arranged, frequently over multiple floors. Some were relatively simple and plain, while others, like the Funduq al-Najjarin in Fes, were quite richly decorated. While many structures of this kind can be found in historic North African cities, the only one in Al-Andalus to have been preserved is the Nasrid-era Corral del Carbón in Granada.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Hammams () are public bathhouses which were ubiquitous in Muslim cities. Essentially derived from the Roman bathhouse model, hammams normally consisted of four main chambers: a changing room, from which one then moved on to a cold room, a warm room, and a hot room. Heat and steam were generated by a hypocaust system which heated the floors. The furnace re-used natural organic materials (such as wood shavings, olive pits, or other organic waste byproducts) by burning them for fuel. The smoke generated by this furnace helped with heating the floors while excess smoke was evacuated through chimneys. Of the different rooms, only the changing room was heavily decorated with "zellij", stucco, or carved wood. The cold, warm, and hot rooms were usually vaulted or domed chambers without windows, designed to keep steam from escaping, but partially lit thanks to small holes in the ceiling which could be covered by ceramic or coloured glass. Many historic hammams have been preserved in cities like Marrakesh and Fez in Morocco, partly thanks to their continued use by locals up to the present day. In Al-Andalus, by contrast, they fell out of use after the expulsion of Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula and are only preserved as archeological sites or historic monuments.


title: Moorish architecture

text: The main palaces of rulers were usually located inside a separate fortified district or citadel of the capital city. These citadels included a complex of different structures including administrative offices, official venues for ceremonies and receptions, functional amenities (such as warehouses, kitchens, and hammams), and the private residences of the ruler and his family. Although palace architecture varied from one period and region to the next, certain traits recurred such as the predominance of courtyards and internal gardens around which elements of the palace were typically centered.


title: Moorish architecture

text: In some cases, rulers were installed in the existing fortified citadel of the city, such as the many "Alcazaba"s and "Alcázar"s in Spain, or the Kasbahs of North Africa. The original Alcazar of Cordoba, used by the Umayyad emirs and their predecessors, was an early example of this. When Cordoba first became the capital of Al-Andalus in the 8th century the early Muslim governors simply moved into the former Visigothic palace, which was eventually redeveloped and modified by the Umayyad rulers after them. The Alcázar of Seville was also occupied and rebuilt in different periods by different rulers. In Marrakesh, Morocco, the Almohad Caliphs in the late 12th century built a large new palace district, the Kasbah, on the south side of the city, which was subsequently occupied and rebuilt by the later Saadian and 'Alawi dynasties. In Al-Andalus many palace enclosures were highly fortified "alcazaba"s located on hilltops overlooking the rest of the city, such as the Alcazaba of Almería and the Alcazaba of Málaga, which were occupied by the various governors and local rulers. The most famous of all these, however, is the Alhambra of Granada, which was built up by the Nasrid dynasty during the 13th to 15th centuries.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Rulers with enough resources sometimes founded entirely separate and autonomous royal cities outside their capital cities, such as Madinat al-Zahra, built by Abd ar-Rahman III outside Cordoba, or Fes el-Jdid built by the Marinids outside old Fez. Some rulers even built entirely new capital cities centered on their palaces, such as the Qal'at Bani Hammad, founded in 1007 by the Hammadids in present-day Algeria, and Mahdia, begun in 916 by the Fatimid Caliphs in present-day Tunisia. In many periods and regions rulers also built outlying private estates with gardens in the countryside. As early as the 8th century, for example, Abd ar-Rahman I possessed such estates in the countryside outside Cordoba. The later Nasrid-built Generalife, located on the mountainside a short distance outside the Alhambra, is also an example of outlying residence and garden made for the private use of the rulers. Moroccan sultans also built pleasure pavilions or residences within the vast gardens and orchards that they maintained outside their cities, notably the Menara Gardens and Agdal Gardens on the outskirts of Marrakesh.


title: Moorish architecture

text: The remains of castles and fortifications from various periods of Al-Andalus have survived across Spain and Portugal, often situated on hilltops and elevated positions that command the surrounding countryside. A large number of Arabic terms were used to denote the different types and functions of these structures, many of which were borrowed into Spanish and are found in numerous toponyms. Some of the most important Spanish terms today include "Alcazaba" (from ), meaning a fortified enclosure or citadel where the governor or ruler was typically installed, and "Alcázar" (from ), which was typically a palace protected by fortifications. Fortifications were built either in stone or in rammed earth. Stone was used more commonly in the Umayyad period while rammed earth became more common in subsequent periods and was also more common in the south.


title: Moorish architecture

text: In the Umayyad period (8th–10th centuries) an extensive network of fortifications stretched in a wide line roughly from Lisbon in the west then up through the Central System of mountains in Spain, around the region of Madrid, and finally up to the areas of Navarre and Huesca, north of Zaragoza, in the east. In addition to these border defenses, castles and fortified garrisons existed in the interior regions of the realm as well. Such fortifications were built from the very beginning of Muslim occupation in the 8th century, but a larger number of remaining examples date from the Caliphal period of the 10th century. Some notable examples from this period include the Castle of Gormaz, the Castle of Tarifa, the Alcazaba of Trujillo, the Alcazaba of Guadix, the Burgalimar Castle at Baños de la Encina, and the Alcazaba of Mérida. The castle of El Vacar near Cordoba is an early example of a rammed-earth fortification in Al-Andalus, likely dating from the Emirate period (756–912), while the castle at Baños de la Encina, dating from later in the 10th century, is a more imposing example of rammed earth construction. Many of these early fortifications had relatively simple architecture with no barbicans and only a single line of walls. The gates were typically straight entrances with an inner and outer doorway (often in the form of horseshoe arches) on the same axis. The castles typically had quadrangular layouts with walls reinforced by rectangular towers. To guarantee a protected access to water even in times of siege, some castles had a tower built on a riverbank which was connected to the main castle via a wall, known in Spanish as a "coracha". One of the oldest examples of this can be found at Calatrava la Vieja (9th century), while a much later example is the tower of the Puente del Cadi below the Alhambra in Granada. The Alcazaba of Mérida also features an "aljibe" (cistern) inside the castle which draws water directly from the nearby river. Moats were also used as defensive measures up until the Almohad period.


title: Moorish architecture

text: In addition to the more sizeable castles, there was a proliferation of smaller castles and forts which held local garrisons, especially from the 10th century onward. The authorities also built multitudes of small, usually round, watch towers which could rapidly send messages to each other via fire or smoke signals. Using this system of signals, a coded message from Soria in northern Spain, for example, could arrive in Cordoba after as little as five hours. The Watchtower of El Vellón, near Madrid, is one surviving example, along with others in the region. This system continued to be used even up until the time of Philip II in the 16th century.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Following the collapse of the Caliphate in the 11th century, the resulting political insecurity encouraged further fortification of cities. The Zirid walls of Granada along the northern edge of the Albaicin today (formerly the Old Alcazaba of the city) date from this time, as do the walls of Niebla, the walls of Jativa, and the walls of Almeria and its Alcazaba. The Alcazaba of Málaga also dates from this period but was later redeveloped under the Nasrids. Traces of an 11th-century fortress also exist on the site of Granada's current Alcazaba in the Alhambra. Military architecture also became steadily more complex. Fortified gates began to regularly include bent entrances – meaning that their passage made one or more right-angle turns to slow down any attackers. Precedents for this type of gate existed as far back as the mid-9th century, with a notable example from this time being the Bab al-Qantara (or "Puerta del Alcántara" today) in Toledo.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Later on, the Almohads (12th and early 13th centuries) were particularly active in the restoration and construction of fortresses and city walls across the regions under their control to counter the growing threat of the Christian "Reconquista". The fortress of Alcalá de Guadaíra is a clear example dating from this time, as well as the Paderne Castle in present-day Portugal. The walls of Seville and Silves also date from this time, both of them either built, restored, or expanded by the Almoravids and Almohads. Military technology again became more sophisticated, with barbicans appearing in front of city walls and "albarrana" towers appearing as a recurring innovation. Both Cordoba and Seville were reinforced by the Almohads with a set of double walls in rammed earth, consisting of a main wall with regular bastion towers and a smaller outer wall, both topped by a walkway ("chemin de ronde") with battlements. Fortification towers also became taller and more massive, sometimes with round or polygonal bases but more commonly still rectangular. Some of the more famous tower fortifications from this period include the Calahorra Tower in Cordoba, which guarded the outer end of the old Roman bridge, and the Torre del Oro in Seville, a dodecagonal tower which fortified a corner of the city walls and which, along with another tower across the river, protected the city's harbour.


title: Moorish architecture

text: In the 13th–15th centuries, during the final period of Muslim rule in Al-Andalus, fortresses and towns were again refortified by either the Nasrids or (in fewer cases) the Marinids. In addition to the fortifications of Granada and its Alhambra, the Nasrids built or rebuilt the Gibralfaro Castle of Málaga and the castle of Antequera, and many smaller strategic hilltop forts like that of Tabernas. A fortified arsenal ("dar as-sina'a") was also built in Malaga, which served as a Nasrid naval base. This late period saw the construction of massive towers and keeps which likely reflected a growing influence of Christian military architecture. The Calahorra Tower (now known as the "Torre de Homenaje") of the Moorish Castle in Gibraltar is one particular example of this, built by the Marinids in the 14th century.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Some of the oldest surviving Islamic-era monuments in the Maghreb are military structures in Ifriqiya and present-day Tunisia. The best-known examples are the Ribat of Sousse and the Ribat of Monastir, both dating generally from the Aghlabid period in the 9th century. A "ribat" was a type of residential fortress which was built to guard the early frontiers of Muslim territory in North Africa, including the coastline. They were built at intervals along the coastline so that they could signal each other from afar. Especially in later periods, ribats also served as a kind of spiritual retreat, and the examples in Sousse and Monastir both contained prayer rooms that acted as mosques. Also dating from the same period are the city walls of Sousse and Sfax, both made in stone and bearing similarities to earlier Byzantine-Roman walls in Africa.


title: Moorish architecture

text: After the Aghlabids came the Fatimids, who took over Ifriqiya in the early 10th century. Most notably, the Fatimids built a heavily-fortified new capital at Mahdia, located on a narrow peninsula extending from the coastline into the sea. The narrow land approach to the peninsula was protected by an extremely thick stone wall reinforced with square bastions and a round polygonal tower at either end where the wall met the sea. The only gate was the Skifa al-Kahla (), defended by two flanking bastions and featuring a vaulted interior passage 44 meters long. (Although it's not clear today how much of the structure dates from the original Fatimid construction.) The peninsula's shoreline was also defended by a stone wall with towers at regular intervals, interrupted only by the entrance to a man-made harbor and arsenal.


title: Moorish architecture

text: The Hammadids, who started out as governors as governors of the Zirids (who were in turn governors for the Fatimids), also built a new fortified capital in Algeria known as Qal'a Beni Hammad in the 11th century, located on a strategic elevated site. Along with the earlier Zirid fortifications of Bougie and 'Achir, its walls were made mainly of rough stone or rubble stone, demonstrating a slow shift in construction methods away from earlier Byzantine-Roman methods and towards more characteristically North African and Berber architecture.


title: Moorish architecture

text: Starting with the Almoravid and Almohad domination of the 11th–13th centuries, most medieval fortifications in the western Maghreb, especially Morocco, shared many characteristics with those of Al-Andalus. Many Almoravid fortifications in Morocco were built in response to the threat of the Almohads. The archaeological site of Tasghimout, southeast of Marrakesh, and Amargu, northeast of Fes, provide evidence about some of these. Built out of rubble stone or rammed earth, they illustrate similarities with earlier Hammadid fortifications as well as an apparent need to build quickly during times of crisis. City walls in Morocco were in turn generally built out of rammed earth and consisted of a wall topped by a walkway for soldiers, reinforced at regular intervals by square towers. These walls were characteristically crowned by merlons shaped like square blocks topped by pyramidal caps. Major examples of such fortifications can be seen in the walls of Marrakesh, the walls of Fes, and the walls of Rabat, all of which date essentially to the Almoravids or Almohads. In western Algeria, the walls of Tlemcen (formerly Tagrart) were likewise partly built by the Almoravids with a mix of rubble stone at the base and rammed earth above. As elsewhere, the gates were often the weakest points of a defensive wall and so were usually more heavily fortified than the surrounding wall. In Morocco, gates were typically designed with a bent entrance. They ranged from very plain in appearance to highly monumental and ornamental. Some of the most monumental gates still standing today were built in stone during the late 12th-century by the Almohad Caliph Ya'qub al-Mansur, including Bab Agnaou in Marrakesh and the Bab er-Rouah and Bab Oudaïa (or Bab el-Kbir) gates in Rabat.


title: Moorish architecture

text: After the Almohads, the Marinids followed in a similar tradition, again building mostly in rammed earth. Their most significant fortification system was the 13th-century double walls of Fes el-Jdid, their capital, but they also built a part of the walls of Salé (including Bab el-Mrissa gate), the walls of Chellah (which include a particularly ornate gate), the walls of Mansoura (near Tlemcen), and a part of the walls of Tlemcen. Further east, the Hafsids carried out important works on the walls of Tunis, their capital, once again making extensive use of rammed earth. Bab Jedid, the southwestern gate of the medina, dates from this period in 1276 and generally continues the Almohad format, including a bent entrance. In later centuries, Moroccan rulers continued to build traditional walls and fortifications while at the same time borrowing elements from European military architecture in the new gunpowder age, most likely through their encounters with the Portuguese and other European powers at this time. The Saadian bastions of Fes, such as Borj Nord, are one early example of these architectural innovations. As the defensive function of city walls and gates became less relevant in the modern era, city gates eventually became more ornamental and symbolic structures. A prominent example of this is the iconic Bab Bou Jeloud gate built by the French colonial administration in Fes in 1913.


title: Moorish architecture

text: In Morocco, the term "Kasbah" (; equivalent of Spanish "Alcazaba") generally refers to a fortified enclosure, ranging from small garrison forts to vast walled districts that functioned as the citadel and center of government in a city (such as the Kasbah of Marrakesh or the Kasbah of Tangier). Sultan Moulay Isma'il (ruled 1672–1727), for example, built numerous kasbahs across the country which acted as garrison forts to maintain order and control, while also building a vast fortified kasbah in Meknes which acted as his imperial citadel containing his palaces. "Kasbah", or "tighremt" in Amazigh, can also refer to various fortresses or fortified mansions in the Atlas Mountains and the desert oases regions of Morocco, such as the Kasbah Telouet, Kasbah Amridil, Kasbah Tamnougalt, or the Kasbah Taourirt in Ouarzazate. In these regions, often traditionally Amazigh (Berber) areas, Kasbahs are again typically made of rammed earth and mud-brick (or sometimes stone) and are often marked by square corner towers, often decorated with geometric motifs along their upper walls and topped with sawtooth-shaped merlons.


title: Moorish architecture

text: The following is a list of important or well-known monuments and sites of historic Moorish architecture. Many are located in Europe in the Iberian Peninsula (in the former territories of Al-Andalus), with an especially strong concentration in southern Spain (modern-day Andalusia). There is also a high concentration of historic Moorish architecture in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The types of monuments that have been preserved vary greatly between regions and between periods. For example, the historic palaces of North Africa have rarely been preserved whereas Spain retains multiple major examples of Islamic palace architecture that have are among the best-studied in the world. By contrast, few major mosques from later periods have been preserved in Spain, whereas many historic mosques are still standing and still being used in North Africa.


title: Bushel

text: A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an imperial and US customary unit of volume based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel is equal to 2 kennings (obsolete), 4 pecks, or 8 dry gallons, and was used mostly for agricultural products, such as wheat. In modern usage, the volume is nominal, with bushels denoting a mass defined differently for each commodity.


title: Bushel

text: The name comes from the Old French ' and ', meaning "little box". It may further derive from Old French "", thus meaning "little butt".


title: Bushel

text: The bushel is an intermediate value between the pound and ton or tun that was introduced to England following the Norman Conquest. Norman statutes made the London bushel part of the legal measure of English wine, ale, and grains. The Assize of Bread and Ale credited to Henry III, , defined this bushel in terms of the wine gallon, while the Assize of Weights and Measures usually credited to Edward I or II defined the London bushel in terms of the larger corn gallon. In either case, the bushel was reckoned to contain 64 pounds of 12 ounces of 20 pennyweight of 32 grains.


title: Bushel

text: These measures were based on the relatively light tower pound and were rarely used in Scotland, Ireland, or Wales during the Middle Ages. When the Tower system was abolished in the 16th century, the bushel was redefined as 56 avoirdupois pounds.


title: Bushel

text: The imperial bushel established by the Weights and Measures Act of 1824 described the bushel as the volume of 80 avoirdupois pounds of distilled water in air at or 8 imperial gallons. This is the bushel in some use in the United Kingdom. Thus, there is no distinction between liquid and dry measure in the imperial system.


title: Bushel

text: The Winchester bushel is the volume of a cylinder in diameter and high, which gives an irrational number of approximately 2150.4202 cubic inches. The modern American or US bushel is a variant of this, rounded to exactly 2150.42 cubic inches, less than one part per ten million less. It is also somewhat in use in Canada.


title: Bushel

text: Bushels are now most often used as units of mass or weight rather than of volume. The bushels in which grains are bought and sold on commodity markets or at local grain elevators, and for reports of grain production, are all units of weight. This is done by assigning a standard weight to each commodity that is to be measured in bushels. These bushels depend on the commodities being measured, and on the moisture content of the commodity. Some of the more common ones are:


title: Bushel

text: Other specific values are defined (and those definitions may vary within different jurisdictions, including from state to state in the United States) for other grains, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables, coal, hair and many other commodities.


title: Bushel

text: Government policy in the United States is to phase out units such as the bushel and replace them with metric mass equivalents.


title: Bushel

text: The Polish bushel (') was used as measure of dry capacity. It is divided into 4 quarters (') and in the early 19th century had a value of 128 litres in Warsaw and 501.116 litres in Kraków.


title: Bushel

text: The Spanish bushel (") was used as a measure of dry capacity. It is roughly equal to 55.5 litres in Castille.


title: Double Dragon

text: The original "Double Dragon" was a blockbuster hit arcade game, ushering in a "Golden Age" for the beat 'em up genre, resulting in a flood of beat 'em ups during the late 1980s to 1990s that followed the conventions set by "Double Dragon". Due to the popularity of the game series, a 1993 animated series and 1994 live-action film adaptation were produced; these adaptations were widely-panned by critics and audiences.


title: Double Dragon

text: The franchise is now the property of Arc System Works, the company that ported the original "Double Dragon" to the Sega Master System console in 1988.


title: Double Dragon

text: The first game, "Double Dragon", was released in the arcades in 1987. A Nintendo Entertainment System version produced by Technōs was released in 1988, followed by a Game Boy version in 1990. Various licensed versions were also produced by other developers for gaming platforms such as the Master System, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Genesis, Atari Lynx and for home computers. Two "Double Dragon" sequels were released for the arcade: "" in 1988 and "" in 1990. Like the original, Technōs produced versions for the NES ("" in 1989 and "" in 1991, respectively). In 1991, a game titled "Double Dragon II", unrelated to its arcade and NES counterpart, was released for the Game Boy. A fourth game in the main series was released exclusively for the Super NES in 1992, titled "Super Double Dragon". It was the last game produced by the original team at Technōs. The Game Gear game "Double Dragon" is not a port of the original arcade game, but is instead an entirely new entry in the series that has gameplay elements that are more similar to "Streets of Rage".


title: Double Dragon

text: In 1994, Tradewest released "" for the Super NES and Genesis in North America and Europe, a fighting game developed by Leland Interactive based on the "Double Dragon" animated TV series by Bohbot Entertainment. A Jaguar version was released by Telegames as well.


title: Double Dragon

text: Another fighting game produced by Technōs, simply titled "Double Dragon", was released for the Neo Geo arcade and home console in 1995. A Neo Geo CD version was also released, as well as a PlayStation version by Urban Plant. It was the last "Double Dragon" game produced by Technōs before the company went out of business.


title: Double Dragon

text: In 2003, a remake of the original "Double Dragon", titled "Double Dragon Advance", was produced by Atlus and Million (the copyrights holder of the "Double Dragon" series at the time) for the Game Boy Advance.


title: Double Dragon

text: In 2009, a remake was released for the Zeebo, developed by Brizo Interactive and published by Tectoy.


title: Double Dragon

text: In 2011, another remake was released for the iPhone, developed by Brizo Interactive and published by Aksys Games.


title: Double Dragon

text: WayForward Technologies developed "Double Dragon Neon", a self-parody of the series. The game was released on September 11, 2012, for the PlayStation 3 on PlayStation Network; one day later for the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live; and was released for PC in the first quarter of 2014.


title: Double Dragon

text: "Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons", a 3D remake of the original "Double Dragon II", was released on the Xbox Live Arcade by game developer Gravity in April 2013.


title: Double Dragon

text: A compilation of the three arcade titles, titled "Double Dragon Trilogy", was released by DotEmu in 2013 for iOS, Android, GOG and Steam platforms.


title: Double Dragon

text: A new title in the series, titled "Double Dragon IV" (not to be confused with "Super Double Dragon"), was released in January 2017, for the PlayStation 4 and PC, respectively, and September 7 for the Nintendo Switch. It takes place shortly after "Double Dragon II: The Revenge" and uses an 8-bit artstyle, similar to the NES ports of the earlier entries of the series. The title was developed by Arc System Works and former Technos staff such as producer Takaomi Kaneko, director Yoshihisa Kishimoto, character designer Koji Ogata, composer Kazunaka Yamane and programmer Kei Oyama.


title: Double Dragon

text: A "Double Dragon" comic book limited series loosely based on the games was published by Marvel Comics in 1991, which lasted six issues from July to December. The comic book was written by Dwayne McDuffie for the first four issues and by Tom Brevoort and Mike Kanterovich for the final two. It features original villains and a unique story that explains the brothers parentage.


title: Double Dragon

text: "Double Dragon" is one of the video games featured in the manga, titled "Rock'n Game Boy" by Shigeto Ikehara, in Comic BomBom from October 1989 to December 1991.


title: Double Dragon

text: A "Double Dragon" animated series was produced by DIC Animation City and Bohbot Entertainment, which originally aired in syndication on Bohbot's Amazin' Adventures block for two seasons from 1993 to 1995, lasting 26 episodes.


title: Double Dragon

text: A film version of "Double Dragon" was released in theaters in 1994, directed by James Yukich and starring Scott Wolf and Mark Dacascos as the Lee brothers.


title: Double Dragon

text: For most of the series, players take control of martial artist William "Billy" Lee, who battles against various adversaries such as gang members and rival fighters. He is often assisted by his elder twin brother James "Jimmy" Lee, who usually serves as the second player's character in most of the games. The Lee brothers are characterized as successors of a fictional martial art known as , which combines techniques from other styles such as karate, tai chi and Shorinji Kempo.


title: Double Dragon

text: The duo were actually unnamed when the original arcade game was initially released in Japan, although the names Hammer and Spike were given to them in the cabinet and promotional flyer produced by Taito for the overseas version. The names Billy and Jimmy Lee were first established in the Famicom/NES version of the first game and consequently used in other console versions and tie-in products such as "The Original Sound of Double Dragon" soundtrack album, but were not actually used in the arcade versions until "". Billy Lee's name comes from a combination of Bruce Lee's last name with the first name of his character Billy Lo from the movie "Game of Death", while Jimmy is named after musician Jimmy Page.


title: Double Dragon

text: Because of the differences between the arcade and console versions of the games, the designs of the Lee brothers tend to vary throughout the series. While the original arcade game has Player 1 controlling a blond-haired Lee brother dressed in a blue outfit and Player 2 as a brown-haired brother in red, the NES version had their hair and outfit colors switched around: Billy was now the brown-haired brother in blue, while Jimmy became the blond-haired brother in red. "Super Double Dragon" was the first game to have the Lee brothers sport different hairstyles during gameplay, with Billy being given a laid down hairstyle and Jimmy a spiky flat top, a design convention adopted by later games such as "Double Dragon Advance" and the smartphone versions, although some of the promotional art and in-game visuals for the earlier games (such as the ending photograph of "" and the story sequences/character portraits of "") had already depicted the Lee brothers with differing hairstyles. Other games such as the Neo Geo fighting game and "Double Dragon Neon" depict the Lee brothers as identical twins like in the first arcade game.


title: Double Dragon

text: The two brothers are shown to be romantically interested in a young woman named Marian, a student in their dojo. The arcade version of the first game (along with most console versions) can end with both brothers fighting each other over Marian if two players reach the end together, with the survivor ultimately winning Marian's affections. The Famicom/NES version, which establishes Marian to be Billy's long-term girlfriend, changes the story so that Jimmy was actually the leader of the Black Warriors (a change made as a result of the lack of two-player cooperative play in that version) and was the one who orchestrated Marian's kidnapping.


title: Double Dragon

text: The enemy organization in the original "Double Dragon" are the Black Warriors gang, who are characterized as the dominant criminal organization in New York City after a nuclear war has left the city deprived of any law and order. Much like the Lee brothers themselves, the names of the gang members were established throughout the console versions of the series. The gang's original leader is the machine gun-toting Willy Mackey (commonly known simply as Willy), who wishes to acquire the knowledge of the Lee brothers' martial arts for himself and orders the kidnapping of Marian as ransom. Recurring members of the gang throughout the various versions of the first game include the thugs Williams and Rowper, dominatrix Linda and bald strongman Abobo. The arcade version also featured two unnamed head swaps of other characters (namely of Abobo and the Lee brothers) as end-stage bosses: although these characters were absent in the NES version, which instead introduced a unique enemy, a Chinese martial artist named Chin Taimei. The Lee brother head swap would later appear in the Mark III/Master System version released by Sega, where he was named Jeff.


title: Double Dragon

text: The name of the gang would change in later games. While the arcade version of "Double Dragon II: The Revenge" had Willy and the Black Warriors retaliating against their earlier defeat by gunning down Marian, the Famicom version replaced Willy with a nameless fighter who led a mysterious armed group following the dissolution of the original Black Warriors. While unnamed in the Japanese version, the English localization of the NES version would refer to this organization as the Shadow Warriors (or the Black Shadow Warriors in the manual), a name later used for an unrelated enemy group in "Super Double Dragon", as well as Willy's own gang in "Double Dragon Advance". The Shadow Warriors was also the name of the villain group in the "Double Dragon" animated series and its tie-in game, "", where they consisted almost entirely of new characters.


title: Double Dragon

text: The names Williams and Rowper were derived from the characters played respectively by Jim Kelly and John Saxon in the movie "Enter The Dragon". Other characters seem to follow a similar naming convention such as Linda, who shares her name with Bruce Lee's widow Linda Lee Cadwell, and the enemy character Bolo from "Double Dragon II: The Revenge", who shares his name with actor Bolo Yeung.


title: Double Dragon

text: The gameplay in most of the games takes place in a pseudo 3D perspective like in "Renegade" and later beat-'em-ups, in which the player character can move in four directions but are always facing left or right. The player can perform a variety of unarmed fighting techniques against their enemies, as well use melee weapons such as baseball bats and throwing knives normally obtained from enemies. In some installments, there are techniques that can be done in combination with another player.


title: Double Dragon

text: While not the first games in the genre, the original "Double Dragon" titles laid the foundations for modern beat 'em up games. They influenced the creation of titles such as "Golden Axe", "Ninja Gaiden" and "Final Fight", which firmly established beat 'em ups as a popular game genre.


title: Double Dragon

text: "Double Dragon" ushered in a "Golden Age" for the beat 'em up genre that took it to new heights with its detailed set of martial arts attacks and its two-player cooperative gameplay. "Double Dragon"'s success resulted in a flood of beat 'em ups in the late 1980s. Subsequent beat 'em ups during the late 1980s to 1990s followed the conventions set by "Double Dragon".


title: Double Dragon

text: Years later, original series creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto lamented the inconsistency in design and quality of the various versions and spin-offs of "Double Dragon" in games and other media. He attributed these failings to Technōs losing the control of the license and allowing a multitude of third parties to work on the franchise.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a humorous detective novel by English writer Douglas Adams, published in 1987. It is described by the author on its cover as a "thumping good detective-ghost-horror-who dunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic".


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The book was followed by a sequel, "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul". The recurring major characters are the eponymous Dirk Gently, his secretary Janice Pearce and Sergeant Gilks. Adams began work on another novel, "The Salmon of Doubt", with the intention of publishing it as the third book in the series, but died before completing it.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: A BBC Radio 4 adaptation of six episodes was broadcast from October 2007. A second series based on the sequel was broadcast from October 2008. A 2010 television adaptation for BBC Four borrowed some of the characters and some minor plot elements of the novel to create a new story, and a 2016 television adaptation for BBC America served as a continuation of the books.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The genesis of the novel was in two "Doctor Who" serials written by Adams, "City of Death" (in which an alien tries to change history at the cost of erasing humanity from existence) and in particular the cancelled serial "Shada", which first introduces a Cambridge professor called Chronotis who is hundreds of years old. He has been living and working at a Cambridge college for centuries, apparently attracting no attention (noting with appreciation that the porters are very discreet). In "Shada", Chronotis's longevity is due to him being a Time Lord, and his time machine is an early model TARDIS. These trademark elements from "Doctor Who" were removed by Adams for "Dirk Gently". "Shada" was cancelled before completion due to a production strike and later released on VHS with Tom Baker narrating the unfilmed segments. The story was also animated in 2017 and released on DVD.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: A number of elements in the novel were inspired by Adams' time at university. For example, one plot thread involves moving a sofa which is irreversibly stuck on the staircase to Richard MacDuff's apartment; according to his simulations, not only is it impossible to remove it, but there is no way for it to have got into that position in the first place. In a similar incident that occurred while Douglas Adams attended St John's College, Cambridge, furniture was placed in the rooms overlooking the river in Third Court while the staircases were being refurbished. When the staircases were completed, it was discovered that the sofas could no longer be removed from the rooms, and the sofas remained in those rooms for several decades.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The "South Bank Show" revealed that Adams based Chronotis' rooms on the rooms he occupied in his third year at university. Likewise, Richard's room – filled with Macintosh computers and synthesisers – was based on Adams' own flat (visited and photographed by Hi-Fi Choice Magazine). The piece of music by Bach that is heard aboard the satellite is "Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ" from the cantata "Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden", BWV 6 (also an organ chorale BWV 649). Adams stated that this was his personal "absolutely perfect" piece of music, and that he listened to it "over and over; drove my wife completely insane" while writing "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency".


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The novel opens on a hellish, rain-drenched landscape, void of almost all life. Its sole feature is a tower-like object projecting from the omnipresent mud. The tower, for unexplained reasons, explodes.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The narrative then switches to the perspective of an Electric Monk - a labour-saving device created for the purpose of “saving you what was becoming an increasingly onerous task, that of believing all the things the world expected you to believe”. This particular Monk, however, is faulty, and acquires and discards new beliefs almost at random. His alien creators have therefore abandoned him, together with his horse, in a desert. A door appears on a rock face, and the Monk goes through it.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: In Cambridge, computer programmer Richard MacDuff has arrived from London to visit his old college, the fictional St. Cedd’s, at the invitation of his undergraduate tutor Urban “Reg” Chronotis. Over a dinner being held in honour of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Richard explains how he came to work for Gordon Way, who also happens to be his girlfriend Susan’s brother. For the benefit of a small girl also in attendance, Reg performs a magic trick in which he vanishes a silver salt cellar from the table, only for it to reappear implanted into a two-hundred-year-old pot that the girl found on holiday in Greece. They also listen to a reading of Coleridge’s Kubla Khan, and the narration makes reference to the poem’s “second, and altogether stranger part”.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: Following dinner, Richard joins Reg in his flat and the two men then discover a horse has mysteriously appeared in the bathroom. Richard suddenly recalls that he intended to bring Susan with him that evening, but completely forgot.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: While driving to his country home and leaving an extended message on Susan’s answering machine, Gordon is shot by a shadowy figure hiding in the trunk of his car. Realizing that he is dead and has become a ghost, Gordon attempts to manipulate objects around him, including his cell phone, which is still connected and transmitting. However, he accomplishes nothing other than accidentally terminating the call to Susan.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: It transpires that after going through the door, the Monk and his horse found themselves in Reg’s flat. Whilst wandering the college grounds, the Monk encountered a porter who told him to “shoot off”. Desiring to follow the instruction, the Monk hid in the trunk of Gordon’s car when Gordon stopped for fuel. Not understanding Gordon’s “reaction” to being shot - i.e., dying - and concerned that he might have erred, the Monk takes Gordon’s identification, keys, and body to the country house before leaving in pursuit of another unshakeable belief. His odd behavior eventually causes him to be picked up by the police.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: Richard also leaves a message on Susan’s answering machine, desperately apologizing and rashly promising to go on holiday with her that weekend. However, he realizes that with a work deadline looming, he will not be able to fulfill this promise. He then decides to break into Susan’s flat and remove the tape from her answering machine. After he enters through the window, the phone rings. The caller is a man Richard knew at Cambridge as the eccentric Dirk Cjelli, now using the surname Gently to avoid troubles with the law. Having seen Richard commit his attempted burglary, Dirk instructs Richard to meet him at a pizza restaurant in a few minutes and hangs up.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: Richard is suddenly seized by remorse and returns the tape to the machine. Immediately afterward, Susan arrives home in the company of her acquaintance Michael Wenton-Weakes. Michael, the son of a wealthy publishing magnate, was unceremoniously terminated from his position as editor of the magazine "Fathom" following his father’s death; he is bitterly resentful of his successor, Alistair Ross. After Michael leaves, Richard apologizes to Susan, who forgives him. She also hands him the tape from the answering machine without listening to it, asking him to give it to Gordon’s secretary for transcription.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The next day, having failed to make their appointment at the pizza restaurant, Richard looks up Dirk in the phone book and discovers an ad for Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. He goes to the agency's office, where Dirk explains that his detective methods are based on the “fundamental interconnectedness of all things”. Dirk then informs his friend that Gordon is dead under mysterious circumstances, and persuades Richard to be hypnotized and describe the events of his evening. Dirk is particularly concerned about the magic trick, which is, so far as he can tell, utterly impossible, as well as Richard’s highly uncharacteristic decision to break into Susan’s flat. He believes that there must be a connection between all the odd events revolving around Richard.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The pair go to Cambridge to speak with Reg. When asked about the trick, the professor confesses his secret: he is not human, but a being so old that he has forgotten his own origins. His flat is in fact a craft of extraordinary power which can travel through space and time - though, for some reason, it cannot function when Reg’s telephone is working, and vice versa. To perform the trick, Reg travelled back in time to have the man who made the pot bake the salt cellar into it. He also visited the planet where the Monk originated, to collect a particular kind of dust that worked well to conceal the suntan he acquired while looking for the potter; the Monk went through the time machine’s door while Reg was not looking. However, the professor acknowledges this is out of character for him - normally he refuses to change the past, for fear of causing a catastrophe in the timeline.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: Michael also arrives in Cambridge to ask Reg’s assistance. He is possessed by the ghost of an alien engineer, whose crew had left their own war-torn planet in search of another world on which to build a utopia based around the creation of music. However, when the aliens, known as Salaxalans, arrived on Earth four billion years in the past to refuel and repair their ship, the engineer failed to notice a problem in the engines of their landing craft. When they were started, the craft exploded, killing the entire crew and leaving their deserted mothership still in orbit. The ghost, haunted by guilt, has spent the millennia trying to find a way to set this right. To this end, he has possessed a number of individuals, including Coleridge, whose work was influenced by the ghost’s story. The curious actions of Richard, Reg, and even the Electric Monk were also caused by the ghost possessing them. However, each subject ultimately proved unsuitable for the task. The engineer finally succeeded with Michael, who is implied to be sympathetic to the ghost’s goals due to his fondness for Coleridge’s poetry, particularly the second half of "Kubla Khan". Dirk demands proof of these claims, so Reg takes them to the mothership, where Richard is overcome by the beauty of the Salaxalans’ music. Richard, Dirk, and Reg agree to take Michael and the ghost back to the scene of the accident.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: Gordon realizes that he will only be able to end his ghosthood if he completes his unfinished business - namely, leaving a message on Susan’s answering machine - but struggles to muster the emotional energy he needs to lift a phone’s receiver and dial the number. However, while drifting around London, he stumbles across the scene of a murder. Galvanized by this discovery, he uses the touch-tone phone in Dirk’s office to call his sister, records an answering machine message telling her of the crime, and hangs up, which enables him to “[fall] back to his own rest and vanish”.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: After Michael, using scuba gear, has walked into the poisonous atmosphere of pre-organic Earth, Richard receives a phone call from Susan. She listened to Gordon’s message, which informed her that Alistair Ross was the murder victim. Richard realizes that the ghost had lied to him and the others. The aliens were intending to colonize Earth, but the accident robbed them of the opportunity, and the Salaxalan regards humanity and indeed all life on the planet as usurpers. Michael is an acceptable host because he considered Ross an equally unworthy thief, and Ross’s murder was the final test of his willingness to go to extremes to “fix” the mistake.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: To stop the engineer from preventing the accident, without which life on Earth could not begin, Richard, Reg, and Dirk travel to Somerset in 1797. Dirk, pretending to be the “person from Porlock”, interrupts Coleridge at work. This action prevents the poem being finished and severs the critical link between Michael and the ghost. However, Reg retains some pity for the engineer, and so travels back to the accident once more. He transports the crew off the landing craft just before the explosion and brings them to the mothership, enabling them to continue on their quest elsewhere.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The three men return to the present day. Reg finds the Electric Monk and takes him back to his own planet. Richard discovers Susan playing a cello piece that is hauntingly reminiscent of the Salaxalans’ harmonies and is baffled when she tells him it was composed by someone called “Bach”. Reg admits that he recorded a portion of the Salaxalans’ music and gave it to the composer. Richard begs him to go back to the mothership and retrieve more, but Reg says this will not be possible - a man from British Telecom has come and fixed the phone.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: Reviewing the book for "The Times", John Nicholson wrote it was "endearingly dotty", but doubted its commercial potential. Austin MacCurtain of the "Sunday Times" reviewed the paperback edition in 1988, saying that it was "more of the same" as "Hitchhiker's", and that the "cosmic romp is stretched thin at times but will not disappoint fans". The book was the 9th highest-selling hardback in the UK in 1987.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: J. Michael Caparula reviewed "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" in "Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer" No. 84. Caparula commented that "The writing is wry and quite British, and the novel's quirky spirit is reminiscent of Rudy Rucker's mathematical farces. A nice change for Adams, proof that his talent goes far beyond the meandering "Hitchhiker" saga."


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: In 1990, the Magill Book Reviews said "The author's whimsical sense of humor and his sense that the universe has many unexplored possibilities will arouse the interest of a wide readership."


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: This novel caused Adams to become acquainted with the well-known scientist Richard Dawkins. As Dawkins explains, "As soon as I finished it, I turned back to page one and read it straight through again – the only time I have ever done that, and I wrote to tell him so. He replied that he was a fan of my books, and he invited me to his house in London." Adams would later introduce Dawkins to the woman who was to become his third wife, the actress Lalla Ward, best known for playing the character Romana in "Doctor Who". One of her early serials on the programme was "City of Death", which Adams wrote, and which shares certain plot elements with the novel.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: On 5 January 1992, Dirk Gently, Richard MacDuff, Dirk's secretary, and the Electric Monk all appeared in the Douglas Adams episode of the British arts documentary series "The South Bank Show". Michael Bywater played Dirk, while Paul Shearer played both Richard and the Monk. Several characters from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" were also featured, played by the original television series actors.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The book has been adapted for stage performance as "Dirk" and in 2005, some fans of Douglas Adams produced an amateur radio series based on the first book. Their efforts began and were coordinated on the Douglas Adams Continuum website. Three episodes were completed. Apart from the radio broadcasts, Douglas Adams recorded both unabridged and abridged readings of the first novel for the audiobook market.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: Announced on 26 January 2007, BBC Radio 4 commissioned Above the Title Productions to make eighteen 30-minute adaptations of Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently" books (including "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" and the unfinished "The Salmon of Doubt"), running in three series of six episodes.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The first series began on 3 October 2007 and features Harry Enfield as Dirk, Billy Boyd as Richard, Olivia Colman as Janice, Jim Carter as Gilks, Andrew Sachs as Reg, Felicity Montagu as Susan, Robert Duncan as Gordon, Toby Longworth as the Monk, Michael Fenton Stevens as Michael, Andrew Secombe, Jon Glover, Jeffrey Holland, Wayne Forester and Tamsin Heatley.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The script for "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" was written by Dirk Maggs, who also directs, and John Langdon. The show was produced by Maggs and Jo Wheeler. As with the previous "Hitchhiker"s series, the CD version features greatly expanded episodes. There are a number of structural and detail differences between the radio adaptation and the book, mostly to aid the comprehension of the story when split into six half-hour episodes.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: Dirk Maggs parted ways with Above the Title Productions when he started his own production company, Perfectly Normal Productions, and so the project was never completed and the proposed radio series of "The Salmon of Doubt" remains unmade.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: Cartoonist Ray Friesen made an unlicensed comic adaptation of the first novel for a book report. A few years later, in 2004, he posted 18 pages of it online as a webcomic.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: IDW Entertainment and Ideate Media have adapted "Dirk Gently" into a limited comic book series and, later, an American television series for BBC America. The comic series premiered in May 2015.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: The first series, "Dirk Gently", featuring the character was announced during Hitchcon, a 2009 "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" event to launch the sixth "Hitchhiker's" book. Ed Victor, a literary agent who represents Adams' estate, announced that a television adaptation of "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" was in production. Stephen Mangan played Gently, with Darren Boyd as Macduff and Helen Baxendale as Susan. It was broadcast on BBC Four on 16 December 2010. The hour-long pilot was well-received, leading to three further episodes being commissioned. These aired on BBC4 during March 2012.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: A second series, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" was released in January 2016. BBC America produced 18 episodes starring Samuel Barnett as Dirk Gently, Elijah Wood as Todd Brotzman, Hannah Marks as Amanda Brotzman, and Jade Eshete as Farah Black. As of July 2020 it is available on the Hulu streaming service.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

text: In a thread on the official Message Boards of Douglas Adams' website, when a reader inquired about the specific mechanics of how the ending worked out, Adams responded: "Ahem. All I can say is that it was as clear as day to me when I wrote it and now I can't figure it out myself. Sorry about that. I'm actually thinking about it at the moment as I've been re-reading the book in preparation for doing a screenplay. I've got a little bit of sorting out to do..."


title: Ivo Graham

text: Born in Tokyo, Graham attended day and boarding schools in Australia and the UK, including Eton College, as his family moved around for his father's work. He studied French and Russian literature at University College, Oxford, graduating in 2012.


title: Ivo Graham

text: He was the youngest ever winner of "So You Think You're Funny" in 2009 and was subsequently signed by the biggest stand up talent agency in the UK, "Off The Kerb". He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2010 Chortle Awards. In 2019 he was nominated at Edinburgh Festival for the Dave Edinburgh Comedy Awards for Best Show for his show entitled The Game Of Life.


title: Ivo Graham

text: His television appearances include "The Stand Up Sketch Show" (ITV2), "Live at the Apollo""," "Mock the Week", "Live from the BBC", "Russell Howard's Stand Up Central", "", "Virtually Famous", "Sweat the Small Stuff" and "The Dog Ate My Homework" and he is a regular on radio show "Fighting Talk". In October 2019 and December 2021, he competed on "Richard Osman's House of Games" and appeared on Paul Merton's team on "Have I Got News For You" on 8 November 2019. Ivo appeared again on the show, via webcam (due to the Covid-19 lockdown), on 15 May 2020, and was again part of Paul Merton's team.


title: Ivo Graham

text: Graham regularly performs at the "Edinburgh Fringe". His shows "Binoculars" (2013), "Bowties and Johnnies" (2014) and "No Filter" (2015) all transferred to London for runs at the Soho Theatre. His 2017 show "Educated Guess" garnered good reviews and sold out, prompting several extra shows to be added, and were performed at the Soho Theatre in October. Graham has also supported Josh Widdicombe on tour.


title: Ivo Graham

text: In 2019 Graham was included in the i-news "50 of the best jokes of the Edinburgh Fringe" with his line: "Do I enjoy randomly appointing people to judicial positions? I'll let you be the judge of that."


title: Ivo Graham

text: In late 2021, Graham co-presented the Dave travelogue "British as Folk" alongside fellow comedians Darren Harriott and Fern Brady.


title: Ivo Graham

text: In December 2022, it was announced that Graham would appear on the fifteenth season of "Taskmaster" alongside Frankie Boyle, Mae Martin, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Jenny Eclair.


title: Ivo Graham

text: He is a supporter of Swindon Town F.C. He has a daughter, born in February 2019. He commented on the Josh Widdicombe and Rob Beckett Parenting lockdown podcast that the relationship with his daughter's mother broke down in January 2020.


title: Genre fiction

text: Genre fiction, also known as popular fiction, is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre.


title: Genre fiction

text: A number of major literary figures have written genre fiction. John Banville publishes crime novels as Benjamin Black, and both Doris Lessing and Margaret Atwood have written science fiction. Georges Simenon, the creator of the Maigret detective novels, has been described by André Gide as "the most novelistic of novelists in French literature".


title: Genre fiction

text: The main genres are crime, fantasy, romance, science fiction and horror—as well as perhaps Western, inspirational and historical fiction.


title: Genre fiction

text: The opposite of genre fiction is mainstream fiction. Slipstream genre is sometimes located in between the genre and non-genre fictions.


title: Genre fiction

text: In the publishing industry the term "category fiction" is often used as a synonym for genre fiction, with the categories serving as the familiar shelf headings within the fiction section of a bookstore, such as Western or mystery.


title: Genre fiction

text: Some authors known for literary fiction have written novels under pseudonyms, while others have employed genre elements in literary fiction.


title: Genre fiction

text: Romance fiction had an estimated $1.375 billion share in the US book market in 2007. Religion/inspirational literature followed with $819 million, science fiction/fantasy with $700 million, mystery with $650 million and then classic literary fiction with $466 million.


title: Genre fiction

text: Genre began as a classification system for ancient Greek literature. Poetry, prose, and drama had specific calculated styles that related to the theme of the story. Among the genres were the epic in poetry and tragedy and comedy for plays. In later periods other genres such as the chivalric romance, opera, and prose fiction developed.


title: Genre fiction

text: Though the novel is often seen as a modern genre – Ian Watt, in "The Rise of the Novel" (1957) suggests that the novel first came into being in the early 18th century – it has also been described as possessing "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", from the time of both Classical Greece and Rome.


title: Genre fiction

text: The "romance" is a closely related long prose narrative. Walter Scott defined it as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvellous and uncommon incidents", whereas in the novel "the events are accommodated to the ordinary train of human events and the modern state of society". However, many romances, including the historical romances of Scott, Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights" and Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick", are also frequently called novels, and Scott describes romance as a "kindred term". Romance, as defined here, should not be confused with the genre fiction love romance or romance novel. Other European languages do not distinguish between romance and novel: "a novel is "le roman", "der Roman", "il romanzo"."


title: Genre fiction

text: Genre fiction developed from various subgenres of the novel (and its "romance" version) during the nineteenth century, along with the growth of the mass-marketing of fiction in the twentieth century: this includes the gothic novel, fantasy, science fiction, adventure novel, historical romance, and the detective novel. Some scholars see precursors to the genre fiction romance novels in literary fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Samuel Richardson's sentimental novel "Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded" (1740) and the novels of Jane Austen such as "Pride and Prejudice" (1813).


title: Genre fiction

text: Critics have often regarded genre fiction as having less artistic merit than literary fiction, but this assumption has been contested after the growth of fiction that blurs these boundaries and the serious study of genre fiction within universities.


title: Genre fiction

text: Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalises crimes, their detection, criminals, and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as historical fiction or science fiction, but the boundaries are indistinct. Crime fiction has multiple subgenres, including detective fiction (such as the whodunit), courtroom drama, hard-boiled fiction, mystery fiction, and legal thrillers. Suspense and mystery are key elements to the genre.


title: Genre fiction

text: Fantasy is a genre of fiction that uses magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic and magical creatures are common. Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal of overlap among the three, all of which are subgenres of speculative fiction. Fantasy works frequently feature a medieval setting.


title: Genre fiction

text: The romance novel or "romantic novel" primarily focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." There are many subgenres of the romance novel including fantasy, historical, science fiction, same sex romantic fiction, and paranormal fiction.


title: Genre fiction

text: There is a prose-fiction form of romance, which Walter Scott defined as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvellous and uncommon incidents".


title: Genre fiction

text: According to "Romance Writers of America" data, the most popular subgenres are: romantic suspense, contemporary romance, historical romance, Erotic romance, paranormal romance, and young adult romance.


title: Genre fiction

text: Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic science and technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a "literature of ideas". It usually eschews the supernatural, and unlike the related genre of fantasy, historically science fiction stories were intended to have at least pretense of science-based fact or theory at the time the story was created, but this connection has become tenuous or non-existent in much of science fiction.


title: Genre fiction

text: Horror fiction aims to frighten or disgust its readers. Although many horror novels feature supernatural phenomena or monsters, it is not required. Early horror took much inspiration from Romanticism and Gothic fiction. Modern horror, such as cosmic horror and splatterpunk, tends to be less melodramatic and more explicit. Horror is often mixed with other genres.


title: Genre fiction

text: A number of major literary figures have written either genre fiction books, or books that contain genre fiction elements. For instance, the novel "Crime and Punishment" by Fydor Dostoevsky contains elements of the crime fiction genre. Gabriel García Márquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera" is a romance novel. "Frankenstein" and "Dracula" are gothic horror novels. Graham Greene at the time of his death in 1991 had a reputation as a writer of both deeply serious novels on the theme of Catholicism, and of "suspense-filled stories of detection". Acclaimed during his lifetime, he was shortlisted in 1966 for the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Nobel laureate André Gide stated that Georges Simenon, best known as the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret, was "the most novelistic of novelists in French literature".


title: Genre fiction

text: Stephen King was awarded the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters; but this polarized opinions and led to debate on genre fiction's literary merit. Negative comments about genre fiction have sparked responses from "Time", "Salon", "the Atlantic", and the "Los Angeles Review of Books". Nobel laureate Doris Lessing described science fiction as "some of the best social fiction of our time", and called Greg Bear, author of "Blood Music", "a great writer".


title: Genre fiction

text: In the 2000s, the BBC defended itself against charges that it had sneered at genre fiction, while the Man Booker and National Book Awards have been criticized for ignoring genre fiction in their selection process.


title: Genre fiction

text: Some critics have claimed that reading romance and suspense thrillers makes readers more sensitive, because these novels focus on interpersonal relationships.


title: Genre fiction

text: Sir John Barrow's descriptive 1831 account of the Mutiny on the Bounty immortalised the Royal Navy ship and her people. The legend of Dick Turpin was popularised when the 18th-century English highwayman's exploits appeared in the novel "Rookwood" in 1834.


title: Genre fiction

text: Although pre-dated by John Ruskin's "The King of the Golden River" in 1841, the history of the modern fantasy genre is generally said to begin with George MacDonald, the influential author of "The Princess and the Goblin" and "Phantastes" (1858). William Morris was a popular English poet who also wrote several fantasy novels during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Wilkie Collins' epistolary novel "The Moonstone" (1868), is generally considered the first detective novel in the English language, while "The Woman in White" is regarded as one of the finest sensation novels. H. G. Wells's (1866–1946) writing career began in the 1890s with science fiction novels like "The Time Machine" (1895), and "The War of the Worlds" (1898) which describes an invasion of late Victorian England by Martians, and Wells is seen, along with Frenchman Jules Verne (1828–1905), as a major figure in the development of the science fiction genre. He also wrote realistic fiction about the lower middle class in novels like "Kipps" (1905) and "The History of Mr Polly" (1910).


title: Genre fiction

text: Penny dreadful publications were an alternative to mainstream works, and were aimed at working class adolescents, introducing the infamous Sweeney Todd. The premier ghost story writer of the 19th century was the Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu. His works include the macabre mystery novel "Uncle Silas" 1865, and his Gothic novella "Carmilla" 1872, tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire. The vampire genre fiction began with John William Polidori's "The Vampyre" (1819). This short story was inspired by the life of Lord Byron and his poem "The Giaour". An important later work is "Varney the Vampire" (1845), where many standard vampire conventions originated: Varney has fangs, leaves two puncture wounds on the neck of his victims, and has hypnotic powers and superhuman strength. Varney was also the first example of the "sympathetic vampire", who loathes his condition but is a slave to it. Bram Stoker, yet another Irish writer, was the author of the seminal horror work "Dracula" and featured as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula, with the vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing his arch-enemy. "Dracula" has been attributed to a number of literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, gothic novel and invasion literature.


title: Genre fiction

text: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is a brilliant London-based "consulting detective", famous for his intellectual prowess, skilful use of astute observation, deductive reasoning and forensic skills to solve difficult cases. Holmes' archenemy Professor Moriarty, is widely considered to be the first true example of a supervillain, while Sherlock Holmes has become a by-word for a detective. Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories featuring Holmes, from 1880 up to 1907, with a final case in 1914. All but four Conan Doyle stories are narrated by Holmes' friend, assistant, and biographer, Dr John H. Watson.


title: Genre fiction

text: The Lost World literary genre was inspired by real stories of archaeological discoveries by imperial adventurers. H. Rider Haggard wrote one of the earliest examples, "King Solomon's Mines" in 1885. Contemporary European politics and diplomatic manoeuvrings informed Anthony Hope's swashbuckling Ruritanian adventure novels "The Prisoner of Zenda" 1894, and "Rupert of Hentzau", 1898.


title: Genre fiction

text: F. Anstey's comic novel "Vice Versa" 1882, sees a father and son magically switch bodies. Satirist Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat" 1889, is a humorous account of a boating holiday on the river Thames. Grossmith brothers George & Weedon's "Diary of a Nobody" 1892, is also considered a classic work of humour.


title: Genre fiction

text: Erskine Childers' "The Riddle of the Sands" (1903), defined the spy novel and Follett has also called it "the first modern thriller".


title: Genre fiction

text: Emma Orczy's "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1903) was originally a highly successful play, when staged in London in 1905. The novel "The Scarlet Pimpernel" was published soon after the play opened and was an immediate success. Orczy gained a following of readers in Britain and throughout the world. The popularity of the novel, which recounted the adventures of a member of the English gentry in the French Revolutionary period, encouraged her to write a number of sequels for her "reckless daredevil" over the next 35 years. The play was performed to great acclaim in France, Italy, Germany and Spain, while the novel was translated into 16 languages. Subsequently, the story has been adapted for television, film, a musical and other media. Baroness Orczy's character "The Old Man in the Corner" (1908) was among the earliest armchair detectives to be created. Her short stories about "Lady Molly of Scotland Yard" (1910) were an early example of a female detective as main character.


title: Genre fiction

text: John Buchan wrote the adventure novels on "Prester John" (1910) and four novels telling the adventures of Richard Hannay, of which the first, "The Thirty-Nine Steps" (1915) is the best known. Novels featuring a gentleman adventurer were popular in the interwar period, exemplified by the series of H. C. McNeile with "Bulldog Drummond" (1920), and Leslie Charteris, whose many books chronicled the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint".


title: Genre fiction

text: The medievalist scholar M. R. James wrote highly regarded ghost stories (1904–1928) in contemporary settings.


title: Genre fiction

text: This was called the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Agatha Christie, a writer of crime novels, short stories and plays, is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays. Christie's works, particularly those featuring the detectives Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, made her one of the most important and innovative writers in the development of the genre. Her most influential novels include "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" (1926); one of her most controversial novels, its innovative twist ending had a significant impact on the genre), "Murder on the Orient Express" (1934), "Death on the Nile" (1937) and "And Then There Were None" (1939). Other female writers dubbed "Queens of crime" include Dorothy L. Sayers (gentleman detective, Lord Peter Wimsey), Margery Allingham (Albert Campion, supposedly created as a parody of Sayers' Wimsey,) and New Zealander Ngaio Marsh (Roderick Alleyn). Georgette Heyer recreated the historical romance genre since 1921, and also wrote detective fiction (1932–1953).


title: Genre fiction

text: A major work of science fiction, from the early 20th century, is "A Voyage to Arcturus" by Scottish writer David Lindsay, first published in 1920. It combines fantasy, philosophy, and science fiction in an exploration of the nature of good and evil and their relationship with existence. It has been described by critic and philosopher Colin Wilson as the "greatest novel of the twentieth century", and was a central influence on C. S. Lewis's "Space Trilogy". Also J. R. R. Tolkien said he read the book "with avidity", and praised it as a work of philosophy, religion, and morality. It was made widely available in paperback form when published as one of the precursor volumes to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in 1968.


title: Genre fiction

text: From the early 1930s to late 1940s, an informal literary discussion group associated with the English faculty at the University of Oxford, were the "Inklings". Its leading members were the major fantasy novelists; C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Lewis is known for "The Screwtape Letters" (1942), "The Chronicles of Narnia" (1950–1956) and "The Space Trilogy" (1938–1945), while Tolkien is best known as the author of "The Hobbit" (1937), "The Lord of the Rings" (1954–1955), and "The Silmarillion" (1977).


title: Genre fiction

text: In thriller writing, Ian Fleming created the character James Bond 007 in January 1952, while on holiday at his Jamaican estate, Goldeneye. Fleming chronicled Bond's adventures in twelve novels, including "Casino Royale" (1953), "Live and Let Die" (1954), "Dr. No" (1958), "Goldfinger" (1959), "Thunderball" (1961), "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1962), and nine short story works.


title: Genre fiction

text: In contrast to the larger-than-life spy capers of Bond, John le Carré was an author of spy novels who depicted a shadowy world of espionage and counter-espionage, and his best known novel "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" (1963), is often regarded as one of the greatest in the genre. Frederick Forsyth writes thriller novels, including "The Day of the Jackal" (1971), "The Odessa File" (1972), "The Dogs of War" (1974) and "The Fourth Protocol" (1984). Ken Follett writes spy thrillers, his first success being "Eye of the Needle" (1978), followed by "The Key to Rebecca" (1980), as well as historical novels, notably "The Pillars of the Earth" (1989), and its sequel "World Without End" (2007). Elleston Trevor is remembered for his 1964 adventure story "The Flight of the Phoenix", while the thriller novelist Philip Nicholson is best known for "Man on Fire". Peter George's "Red Alert" (1958), is a Cold War thriller.


title: Genre fiction

text: War novels include Alistair MacLean thriller's "The Guns of Navarone" (1957), "Where Eagles Dare" (1968), and Jack Higgins' "The Eagle Has Landed" (1975). Patrick O'Brian's nautical historical novels feature the "Aubrey–Maturin series" set in the Royal Navy, the first being "Master and Commander" (1969).


title: Genre fiction

text: Ronald Welch's Carnegie Medal winning novel "Knight Crusader" is set in the 12th century and gives a depiction of the Third Crusade, featuring the Christian leader and King of England Richard the Lionheart.


title: Genre fiction

text: Nigel Tranter wrote historical novels of celebrated Scottish warriors; Robert the Bruce in "The Bruce Trilogy", and William Wallace in "The Wallace" (1975), works noted by academics for their accuracy.


title: Genre fiction

text: John Wyndham wrote post-apocalyptic science fiction, his most notable works being "The Day of the Triffids" (1951), and "The Midwich Cuckoos" (1957). George Langelaan's "The Fly" (1957), is a science fiction short story. Science fiction novelist Arthur C. Clarke's "" (1968), is based on his various short stories, particularly "The Sentinel" (1951). His other major novels include "Rendezvous with Rama" (1972), and "The Fountains of Paradise" (1979). Brian Aldiss is Clarke's contemporary.


title: Genre fiction

text: Michael Moorcock (born 1939) is a writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels. He was involved with the 'New Wave' of science fiction writers "part of whose aim was to invest the genre with literary merit" Similarly J. G. Ballard (born 1930) "became known in the 1960s as the most prominent of the 'New Wave' science fiction writers". A later major figure in science fiction was Iain M. Banks who created a fictional anarchist, socialist, and utopian society named "The Culture". The novels that feature in it include "Excession" (1996), and "Inversions" (1998). He also published mainstream novels, including the highly controversial "The Wasp Factory" in 1984. Nobel prize winner Doris Lessing also published a sequence of five science fiction novels the "Canopus in Argos: Archives" between 1979 and 1983.


title: Genre fiction

text: Terry Pratchett is best known for his "Discworld" series of comic fantasy novels, that begins with "The Colour of Magic" (1983), and includes "Mort" (1987), "Hogfather" (1996), and "Night Watch" (2002). Pratchett's other most notable work is the 1990 novel "Good Omens".


title: Genre fiction

text: Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy "His Dark Materials" comprises "Northern Lights" (1995), "The Subtle Knife" (1997), and "The Amber Spyglass" (2000). It follows the coming-of-age of two children as they wander through a series of parallel universes against a backdrop of epic events.


title: Genre fiction

text: Neil Gaiman is a writer of science fiction, fantasy short stories and novels, whose notable works include "Stardust" (1998), "Coraline" (2002), "The Graveyard Book" (2009), and "The Sandman" series.


title: Genre fiction

text: Alan Moore's works include "Watchmen", "V for Vendetta" set in a dystopian future UK, "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", and "From Hell", speculating on the identity and motives of Jack the Ripper.


title: Genre fiction

text: Douglas Adams wrote the five-volume science fiction comedy trilogy "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", and also wrote the humorous fantasy detective novel "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency".


title: Ambuja Cements

text: Ambuja Cements Limited, formerly known as Gujarat Ambuja Cement Limited, is a major Indian cement producing company. The Group markets cement and clinker for both domestic and export markets.


title: Ambuja Cements

text: The company had entered into a strategic partnership with Holcim, the second-largest cement manufacturer in the world from 2006. Holcim had, in January, bought a 14.8 percent promoters' stake in the GACL for INR 21.4 billion.


title: Ambuja Cements

text: Currently Holcim holds 61.62% of the shares in Ambuja Cements. On 14 April 2022, Holcim announced that it would exit from the Indian market after 17 years of operations as part of a strategy to focus on core markets, and listed its stakes in Ambuja Cements and ACC for sale. On May 15, 2022, Adani Group acquired Holcim's stake in Ambuja Cements and ACC for US$10.5 billion.


title: Surf Curse

text: Surf Curse is an American surf rock band formed in 2013 in Reno, Nevada, and now based out of Los Angeles. Created by Nick Rattigan (lead vocals and drums) and Jacob Rubeck (guitars), the band now also includes Henry Dillon and Noah Kholl. The band achieved mainstream success after their song "Freaks", written in 2011 and first released in 2013, became popular on the short-form video platform TikTok in 2020.


title: Surf Curse

text: Surf Curse was formed in 2013 by Nick Rattigan and Jacob Rubeck in Reno, Nevada. The band soon moved to Los Angeles, where they played at the The Smell, a club that welcomed bands with similar sounds to that of Surf Curse's punk-surf rock. There, they became a part of the local all-ages punk scene. Simultaneously, Rattigan continued working on his solo project, performing as Current Joys. Also in 2013, the band independently released both the EP "Sad Boys" and their debut album "Buds". The latter featured the song "Freaks", written in 2011 when Rattigan and Rubeck were both aged 18.