What can account for the durability and persistence of certain tales, in different places, through the ages? How can it be that the same story is found in Scotland and also in Pre-Columbian America?

These questions and more are answered in Idries Shah’s remarkable volume World Tales, which is subtitled, “The extraordinary coincidence of stories told in all times, in all places.” It is an anthology of 65 enduring folk tales, some famous, others virtually unknown, from every part of the globe.