“David Waines has written a fresh, new study of the famous fourteenth-century traveler Ibn Battuta, in which the traveler’s world and worldview are laid bare for us. This is a delightful exposé of what Ibn Battuta made of the experience of travel and the diverse foods, societies, religions, and individuals that he encountered in the ‘international’ civilization of medieval Islam.”

Paul M. Cobb, University of Pennsylvania

“David Waines offers us a fascinating and wholly fresh look into the life and travels of a major figure of Mediterranean and medieval literature. Ibn Battuta’s monumental travel narrative, and the socio-historical issues that underlie that narrative, come alive in Waines’s vibrant and clear prose. Beyond a highly nuanced account of Ibn Battuta’s Travels, Waines also offers his readers a sophisticated platform upon which to develop future analyses of medieval travel literature. The Odyssey of Ibn Battuta will no doubt become the standard introduction to Ibn Battuta’s work for years to come.”

Vincent Barletta, Stanford University