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For 19th-century folklorist Thomas Crane, the value of collecting, translating, and reproducing folktales lay in their internationalism--their capacity to reveal how the customs of a particular group, no matter how unique, are linked to many others.

In his classic collection, edited and updated by contemporary folklorist Jack Zipes, Crane traces the roots of Italian folktales to their origins, often in the Orient, then shows how they diffused in unpredictable and marvelous ways throughout Italy and over the centuries. A contemporary of the brothers Grimm, Crane offers a richer, more complex selection of oral and literary tales. Unlike the Grimms, he doesn't edit or modify the tales, which deal openly with surprisingly contemporary subjects: murder, adultery, incest, child abuse, and brutal vengeance.