Known as the greatest traveler of premodern times; Abu Abdallah ibn Battuta was born in Morocco in 1304 and educated in Islamic law. At the age of twenty-one; he left home to make the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. This was only the first of a series of extraordinary journeys that spanned nearly three decades and took him not only eastward to India and China but also north to the Volga River valley and south to Tanzania. The narrative of these travels has been known to specialists in Islamic and medieval history for years. Ross E. Dunn's 1986 retelling of these tales; however; was the first work of scholarship to make the legendary traveler's story accessible to a general audience. Now updated with revisions; a new preface; and an updated bibliography; Dunn's classic interprets Ibn Battuta's adventures and places them within the rich; trans-hemispheric cultural setting of medieval Islam.
#422018 in Books imusti 2000-10-02Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 2.00 x 5.88l; 2.09 #File Name: 0520227069711 pagesUniversity of California Press
Review
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Change the way you look at the world.By B.Donald Horowitz's book "Ethnic Groups in Conflict" completely changed the way I not only look at Africa/South-East Asia; but also the way in which I look at all politics and group identity. If one carefully reads this book--and it certainly takes a dedicated; and systematic reading--one will come away changed. I was lucky enough to read this book during a class in the university; so I had the advantage of being required to sit and read this book; and also having the resources to ask questions. Horowitz systematically analyses the primordial and imperialist origins of group comparison; the politicizing of group cleavages--fueled by imperial favoritism--and; the politicizing of the military. (A great companion to Huntington's work on politics and the military.) And; in his conclusion; Horowitz shows the possible solutions to group conflict--economic specialization or specialized voting rules.This book gives the reader a special insight into the logic of ethnic group behavior. It is full of highly cited examples; ranging for the Yorba to the Tamils. Anyone interested in politics; nationalism; Africa; Asia; imperialism and; even; economics and the effects of alternative voting rules; ought to take the time and effort of reading this classic volume.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy PeyGood!20 of 23 people found the following review helpful. A solid scholarly treatise on ethnic conflictBy Stephen LubyThis book is a scholarly treatise on ethnic conflict. The author's ideas are thoroughly developed; and supported with numerous examples and references. I finished the book with a far greater understanding of the roots; complexity; dynamics; and interventions for ethnic conflict. Horowitz shows how the ethnic conflict which we may be most directly aware of is an example of a larger phenomenon. The book is not easy to read. It is 684 pages. Many of its 16 chapters have over 100 footnotes. The writing style favors cautious scholarly precision with exhaustive attention to detail; rather than an easy to understand summary of the central ideas.
