A captivating, well-informed account of travels in the footsteps of the Medieval pilgrim and world traveler Ibn Battuta from Tangiers to Constantinople via Egypt, Syria, Oman, Anatolia, and the Crimea. That's just the first leg of the voyage that took Battuta all over the known world (covering much more territory than the celebrated Marco Polo). Mackintosh-Smith is a splendid writer, interweaving the story of Battuta with modern commentary of the Arab world. The British scholar (and Arabic-speaker) lives in Yemen.  (NAF26, $14.95)