I am currently completely swept away by Tahir Shah's novel Timbuctoo. Odd that Timbuctoo is again very much in the news, his story follows the amazing adventures of the first European to visit this fabled city. This book is an incredible production, beautiful maps, wonderful paper...worth getting at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Timbuctoo-Tahir-Shah/dp/0957242905/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339022075&sr=8-1