Tim Mackintosh-Smith Bücher

Gibt es »die« Araber? Tim Mackintosh-Smith folgt ihren Spuren. In Sanaa im Jemen auf der arabischen Halbinsel lebend und schreibend, werden ihm die aktuellen Ereignisse selbst historisch, während er die Geschichte der arabischen Welt verfolgt. Dabei beginnt er im 9. Jahrhundert v. Chr. bei den nomadischen Stämmen und ihrer Rolle. In vorislamischer Zeit waren Literatur und Kultur vor allem mündlich. Als der Koran, das erste arabische Buch, im 7. Jh. erschien, vereinte es die Araber in rasantem Tempo und befeuerte eine Welle der Expansion. Keine 300 Jahre später war die arabische Herrschaft nur noch eine bittersüße Erinnerung, und während der nächsten tausend Jahre waren die Araber mit wenigen Ausnahmen untereinander zerstritten und wurden von Türken, Persern, Berbern und Europäern regiert. Der arabische Frühling und das darauffolgende Chaos haben gezeigt, wie Worte – Parolen und Propaganda, leise Wahrheiten und laute Lügen – den Kurs der arabischen Welt bis heute bestimmen.

Tim Mackintosh-Smith concludes his travels in the footsteps of Moroccan traveller Ibn Battutah across the 'worlds beyond the winds'

A riveting, comprehensive history of the Arab peoples and tribes

'A gripping and accomplished travel book . . . [it] stands out for its integrity and intelligence' Anthony Sattin, Sunday Times Ibn Battutah was the greatest traveller of the pre-mechanical age, journeying for twenty nine years and covering three times the ground Marco Polo covered. Tim Mackintosh-Smith follows the first stage of Ibn Battutah's journey, from Tangier to Constantinople. Destinations include an Islamic Butlin's in the Egyptian desert, Assassin castles in Syria, the Kuria Maria Islands in the Arabian Sea and some of the greatest cities of Medeival Islam. He also cleverly compares the contemporary Muslim world with the past. 'Mackintosh-Smith slips effortlessly between our world and that of the fourteenth century. In doing so, he has created a gripping and accomplished travel book... We will be lucky if there is a better one published this year' Sunday Times 'An immensely engaging book...Subversive good humour without relentless jokiness; and a descriptive eye capable of sketching complext details in a few telling lines' Daily Telegraph

The journey of Ibn Battutah, an Arab traveler, begins in 1325 as he embarks on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Over nearly thirty years, he explores vast regions, ultimately covering around 75,000 miles, far surpassing the distance traveled by Marco Polo. His adventures offer a unique perspective on the cultures and societies of the time, making his travels a significant historical account of the medieval world.

Tim Mackintosh-Smith continues in the footsteps of Moroccan traveller Ibn Battutah, revealing the rich tales of an India far off the beaten path of Taj and Raj

In this work, the author describes his journey through Yemen, portraying hyrax hunters and dhow skippers, a noseless regicide, a sword-wielding tyrant with a passion for Heinz Russian salad, as well as examining the extraordinary history of the ordinary Yemenis.

Tim Mackintosh-Smith's Travels with a Tangerine introduced the modern world to Ibn Battutah, 'Prince of Travellers'. Now they take to the road together once more for the next leg of Ibn Battutah's travels -- the great subcontinent of India. Born in 1304, Ibn Battutah left his native Tangier as a young scholar of law. He returned nearly thirty years later having visited most of the known world between Morocco and China. To many contemporaries his tales were received as Munchausian fantasies -- and it was India that stretched his readers' credulity beyond the limit. Tim Mackintosh-Smith traces in situ the dizzy ladders and terrifying snakes of Ibn Battutah's Indian career -- as judge and hermit, courtier and prisoner, ambassador and castaway. Over the course of his journey he also finds a dead Muslim posing as a Hindu deity, Jesus popping up in the pulpit of a mosque, and the rotten tooth of a mad sultan being revered as a saint. Ibn Battutah left India stripped to his underpants by pirates; but he took away a treasure of tales as rich as any in the history of travel. Back home they said the treasure was a fake. What Mackintosh-Smith returns with proves the sceptics wrong: India is the jewel in the Prince of Travellers' turban.

Historický román Krvavý kámen se odehrává ve 14. století v Seville a především v Granadě, hlavním městě Maurů v jižním Španělsku, v podmanivém prostředí komplexu paláců a pevností, v Alhambře. Roku 1368 se Granada, které tehdy vládne velkovezír Lisánuddín al-Chatíb, ocitá v ohrožení skupiny muslimských vzbouřenců, kteří usilují o „očistu“ islámské víry a návrat k jejím prapůvodním kořenům. Říkají si „Lvi“ a jsou na život a na smrt oddáni svému předákovi. A právě v té době pobývá v Granadě slavný cestovatel Abú Abdulláh ibn Battúta se svým černým otrokem Sinánem. Do děje, který se odvíjí kolem tajuplného drahokamu, známého jako Velký rubín (Krvavý kámen), postupně vstupují kromě obou hlavních protagonistů děje – cestovatele a jeho černého otroka – samozvaný sultán, kastilský král Pedro Krutý, jeho židovský lékař a důvěrník, správce Alhambry Zajd, alchymista a básník Alí a jeho křesťanská milenka, zpěvačka Lubna.