The Odyssey of Ibn Battuta: Uncommon Tales of a Medieval Adventurer

Abstract

section of several disciplines” by exposing us to “exciting new avenues of approach”. Unfortunately, a number of shortcomings undermine this objective. There is no index, the inclusion of which would have increased the usability of the volume considerably for readers, reviewers and researchers seeking to dip into the text quickly, before engaging more deeply. Furthermore, no effort is made to outline how the volume fits in the overall series of which it is a part.How, therefore, shouldwe view its contribution to understanding cultural encounters in the Late Antique andMedieval Near East? The question is particularly relevant when considering texts on early Islam, since the debate over Islam’s origins has moved well beyond the symbolic, or analogically emblematic. There is no bibliography, nor is there a list of the sources that the twelve scholars have relied on for their chapters. Even a pithy bibliography broadly surveying the themes tackled here would have made this text useful for readers other than the specialist. Additionally, there is minimal information about the authors of the chapters, leaving readers and reviewers to guess who they are, their areas of research expertise, and how these bear upon their chapters. A page or two of one-paragraph long abstracts on each author would have enabled readers to better situate the chapters and their authors and to follow up more easily on points of interest or debate. If deeper consideration had been given to the reference apparatus within the volume, the portions of the book on martyrdom, sacrifice, and exemplary life of converts imitating the life of Christ would have been rendered that much more rewarding. Instead, what we have here is a good book that nearly falls apart, and that is in desperate need of a better show-and-tell, that is to say a broader meta-contextual setting within which to embed and understand the twelve narrative gems.