Concordances and Characters
The First Century

Amin Maalouf (French: [maluf]; Arabic: أمين معلوف‎; born 25 February 1949) is a Lebanese-born French author of fiction and non-fiction who has lived in France since 1976. Although his native language is Arabic, he writes in French, and his works have been translated into more than 40 languages.

His best known work of science fiction is The First Century After Beatrice, a demographic dystopia that describes the social devastation caused by the introduction of a substance than guarantees only male offspring. "The cult of the male, that today is simply a defect in society, would become collective suicide." (p. 25) The world experiences first the violent breakdown of authority and then a depopulated barbarism.

Of Maalof's several works of nonfiction, The Crusades through Arab Eyes is probably the best known. He received the Prix Goncourt in 1993 for his novel The Rock of Tanios, as well as the 2010 Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He is a member of Académie française.

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  • The Children of Men