The Amazing Travels of Ibn Battuta by Fatima Sharafeddine (review)

Ibn Battuta, a devout fourteenth-century Muslim, set out to visit important cities and sites throughout Dar al-Islam (the Muslim countries), on three continents and over nearly three decades. Ibn Battuta is a deeply fascinating individual, and his epic travels remain awe-inspiring centuries later. Unfortunately, the compression of his ambitious adventures into a slim picture book means that there’s little page space to delve into description or to linger over a traveler’s tale; instead, the text rushes through the highlights with the briefest of comments on each stop, and the book never mentions some of his more perilous encounters or his personal life. No comprehensive map is included, but Mohammed Ali’s page designs cleverly incorporate grainy landforms jutting into sapphire seas or threaded with azure rivers, offering smaller regional maps with place names included, as well as vignettes of the local architecture. Although this title is not as lavish as James Rumford’s Traveling Man (BCCB 12/01), it may whet readers’ interest to pursue Ibn Battuta’s story in more depth, perhaps through the virtual tour at ibnbattuta.berkeley.edu (The Travels of Ibn Battuta).