[Quinotto]

I would recommend a very interesting book on origns of Gypsies. Richard Burton's "The Jew, The Gypsy, and El-Islam". You can easily find it on Barnes and Noble (www.bn.com)

I truly appreciate your recommendation but I am familiar with Burton's writings, I have read them when I was a kid. They were fascinating books portraying Africa and Asia in amazing detail. I did find him a bit racist but then he was a typical British Aristocrat and in his desire to prove himself, he rushed to unusual conclusions a lot of times.

[K. Smirnov]

Burton is VERY interesting reading - have u read his book "Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Meccah?". It reads as a suspense triller or detective story. Burton disguised as an Afghan doctor makes a trip to Muslim Holy places. The first white man ever successfully done that.