Book description
Ibn Battutah set out in 1325 from his native Tangier on the
pilgrimage to Mecca. By the time he returned twenty-nine years later,
he had visited most of the known world, travelling three times the
distance Marco Polo covered. Spiritual backpacker, social climber,
temporary hermit and failed ambassador, he braved brigands, blisters
and his own prejudices. The outcome was a monumental travel classic.
Captivated by this indefatigable man, award-winning travel writer Tim
Mackintosh-Smith set out on his own eventful journey, retracing the
Moroccan's eccentric trip from Tangier to Constantinople. Tim proves
himself a perfect companion to this distant traveller, and the result
is an amazing blend of personalities, history and contemporary observation.
'With the Travels of IB (as he affectionately thinks of
him) in hand, Mackintosh-Smith here follows his predecessor's trail as
far as the Crimea, seeking what remains of the sights Battutah saw,
skilfully evoking those that have vanished, all the while remaining
alert to the deep connections between modern Muslim society and the
past. The result is an immensely engaging book'
Tim Mackintosh-Smith's first book, Yemen: Travels in Dictionary Land,
won the 1998 Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award and is now
regarded as a classic of Arabian description. His two books on Ibn
Battutah's adventures in the old Islamic world and in India, Travels
with a Tangerine and The Hall of a Thousand Columns, were received to
huge critical acclaim. His journeys in search of Ibn Battutah have also
been turned into a major BBC television series that has fascinated
viewers round the globe. For the past twenty-five years his home has
been the Yemeni capital San'a, where he lives in a tower-house on top of
the ancient Sabaean city and next door to the modern donkey market.
