The Romance of the Harem : University of Virginia Press : 9780813913285 : 0813913284 : 30 Jul 1991 : From setting foot in Asia in 1849 (or was it 1845?) as Anna Crawford (or was it Anna Edwards?) to waltzing with Yul Brynner in glorious technicolor, Anna Leonowens and her romanticized experiences as the only Westerner behind the walls of Nang Harm (the walled harem of the king of Siam) have had a long, colourful, and often controversial existence.;Reproduced here is the original 1873 edition of "The Romance of the Harem" by Anna Leonowens (long out of print) which was the source for a 20th century book "Anna and the King of Siam" known to us all through Rogers and Hammerstein's "The King and I".;"Why", asks Susan Morgan in her provocative introduction, "should we read this obscure travel account, with its dubious and often inaccurate or uncheckable facts and its author of shady repute?" For several reasons: first, the narrative speaks in its unique way to three of the most incendiary i