As salaamu alai kum wa rahmatullahi wa barakth,
Of the few pages and paragraphs (about 30 pages) that I read of the book, Ibn Battuta by L. P. Harvey, I felt like being in the company of a bitching wife (sorry for the strong word), who is deeply pessimistic and doubts if you really had work in the office when you said you’d be coming home late.
Which is why I feel the book should have been titled: ‘Ibn Battuta: A Perspective’ – this is what it really is, the British author, L. P. Harvey’s perspective on Ibn Battuta’s life and travels.
Truth be told, the book is very good as it contains many anecdotes and provides a summary of his travels, in-fact this particular copy was a gift for someone else, so I could not complete its reading, but we’ve ordered two copies of it already, so for someone who is averse to reading thick fat autobiographical books on Ibn Battuta, like the one more I have on him: ‘The Adventures of Ibn Battuta – A Muslims Traveler of the Fourteenth Century’ by Ross E. Dunn which runs into about 400 pages, this book by L. P. Harvey at just about 120 pages is a welcome change.
You may ask why I’m recommending such a book in that case, but rest assured, to anyone who is familiar with British honesty, this book won’t do any damage, inshaAllah.
UPDATE ON 19th Aug 2013: Its not worth reading.
Title: Ibn Battuta
Binding: Paperback
Author: L. P. Harvey
Language: English
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Pages: 127
Price: $ 4
Purchased from: Infibeam
Wa alai kum as salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakath.
May 31, 2013 at 2:30 pm
Nice :)
June 1, 2013 at 9:28 am
JazakAllah Khair brother
July 22, 2013 at 10:23 am
Salaam.
Where did you buy ‘The Adventures of Ibn Battuta – A Muslims Traveler of the Fourteenth Century’ by Ross E. Dunn from?
On your recommendation, I have bought the above book.
Jazakumullah-hu-khairan
July 22, 2013 at 10:38 am
WS brother.
I bought it from http://www.amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Ibn-Battuta-Traveler-Fourteenth/dp/0520243854/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374469598&sr=1-1&keywords=ibn+battuta
August 20, 2013 at 4:16 pm
Ibn Battuta has remained a fascinating historical personality to me, since I read a small paragraph about him in my history book, while in school. The short film ‘Journey to Mecca’ only recapitulated this allurement, convincing me to read his life in detail. I ordered ‘The Travels of Ibn Battutah’ by Tim Mackintosh-Smith from Infibeam two weeks ago, still waiting for the delivery.
August 20, 2013 at 5:47 pm
Tim Mackintosh Smith is next on my list, but I also purchased HAR Gibbs version and its very good (of the passages that I’ve read). Buy it from http://www.idarastore.com as they have it cheap – just tell them to pack it nicely.
August 20, 2013 at 6:05 pm
Brother Salman, this web store looks like a a valuable find. Jazakallah for the link.