The Bamana Empire by the Niger : Kingdom, Jihad and Colonization, 1712-1920 Book

This was a very interesting read; especially for anyone interested in anthropology or historical customs. It is an ancient travelogue of a guy named Ibn Battuta. He traveled around the Middle East, Asia Minor, India, and Africa for 29 years! During this time, the majority of the people in these places were Muslim, and this common cultural element is what enabled Ibn Battuta free reign to travel where he pleased. He would stay in places for a few days or a few months. Everywhere he went, he wrote about his activities, people's customs, and his thoughts about what he saw. From the introduction, it sounds like he wrote about all of his travels, but this book only covers his travels across Africa - specifically down the eastern coast along the Indian Ocean, and across the western Sahara. This is not a modern travelogue, so there are portions that are somewhat dry. However, it's also a very fast read and has a lot of fascinating details. It's also a short read. The tale itself is only 75 pages long, with the rest of the book being footnotes and appendixes.