Travels With A Tangerine
A Journey in the Footsteps of Ibn Battuah
ISBN 9781566492478 (hardcover)
Published in June 2002
MSRP $15.00
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"It occurred to me, halfway through reading this book, that the most important thing about it is not Mackintosh-Smith's pursuit of Ibn Battutah but his reminder that there is a gentle and generous side to Islam. Nor should Mackintosh Smith's account of his journey be mistaken for artful propaganda. Travels with a Tangerine is simply a very genial tale, told by a sensitive man whose chief interest is a culture motivated by a faith to which he does not himself subscribe. It is a very civilized book, one that makes me hope that its author will (as he hints) give us a sequel, providing more 'footnotes' that will follow Ibn Battutah on to South Asia and the Far East."
- Geoffrey Moorhouse, New York Times
- Geoffrey Moorhouse, New York Times
"Enough excitement, exotic details and information to satisfy the most exacting armchair traveler. The author brings his research skills, scholarship and respect for all cultures to bear on Battutah's adventures and his own. Written with humor and style."
- Publishers Weekly
- Publishers Weekly
"Mackintosh-Smith wrote Yemen: The Unknown Arabia (2000), appreciated by reviewers for its humor and discernment. He vindicates that reception in this absorbing time-out-of-joint travelogue that stretches from Morocco to Oman to the Crimea."
- Booklist
- Booklist
"A learned, smartly observant, and very readable account. In a time of macho travel, Mackintosh-Smith is that admirable rarity: a self-restrained and bookish traveler who knows the territory and the texts. He is far more likely to make fun of himself than to aggrandize himself. This self-deprecation makes him a pleasant companion . . . What is apparent throughout is that his book comes from a deep love of Ibn Battutah and of the Arab-Muslim world in which he has spent most of his adulthood."
- The New Republic
- The New Republic
"The Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award is not handed out lightly, and is almost invariably given to travel writing of a rare order. Tim Mackintosh-Smith is a very worthy recipient, and Travels with a Tangerine will no doubt inspire... The writing, always spare and elegant, makes this a highly compelling read for either the adventurer or the armchair traveler."
- Amazon.co.uk
- Amazon.co.uk
"Mackintosh-Smith seems incapable of writing a dull sentence, and in him the scholar, the linguist and the storyteller swap hats with marvelous speed."
- The New York Times
- The New York Times