Fascinating narratives by Benjamin of Tudela, Eldad the Danite, other scholars, merchants, pilgrims, etc. Illustrated.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
sometimes interesting, sometimes bizarre:
The title of this book is self-explanatory: 19 travelogues, written by Jews between the 9th and 18th centuries (though a couple of them are of doubtful veracity). The most common refrain throughout this book is the sheer difficulty of travel in the Middle Ages: many places had constant plagues of various sorts (presumably due to bad sanitation) , highways were full of sometimes-murderous robbers, etc. I can't vouch for the translation, let alone the validity of the original sources- so I'm not... more info
Just Amazing...first hand accounts:
Do not buy this book for the editorial content, it is minimal. The first hand accounts provided by the travellers provide more than enough reason to buy this book. There are not many other diaries similar to the ones presented here.
Cannot be used by serious researcher!:
Cannot be used as a source because of an incorrect translation, which distorts the histrography. Also there are other issues concerning the scholarship. It might could be saved if the editor and publishers were to redo the work. Perhaps grade school teachers could use the book in support of their lesson plans. Invest in both a better translated and written book.
Despite all the problems trying to enter this review, this book is excellent!:
This book should be purchased before visiting The Holy Land, October 16,
2004 Reviewer:Barbara Stienstra (Goshen, New York United States) - See all my
reviews
This book should be purchased before visiting The Holy Land, taken there
when on a visit, and studied and applied while traversing the countryside
and cities! Chocked-full of wonderful and interesting genealogy and
grave-ology! A who's (located) where, when and why! Did you know: "From the river Hiddekel... more info
