Get 3 months of Audible free - Get this deal
$12.99 with 46 percent savings
Print List Price: $24.00

Promotions are applied when you make a purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Sold by PRH UK. This price was set by the publisher.
Read with our free app
You have subscribed to ! We will pre-order your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we’ll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera, scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle app

  • Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North (Penguin Classics)
  • To view this video, download

Follow the authors

See all
Aḥmad Ibn Faḍlān
Follow
Paul Lunde
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North (Penguin Classics) Kindle Edition

by Ibn Fadlan (Author), Paul Lunde (Translator), Caroline E.M.Stone (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 657 ratings
3.9 on Goodreads
2,486 ratings

鶹

' + '' + decodeURIComponent(encodedIframeContent) + ''+''); doc.close(); } } this.iframeload = function () { var iframe = document.getElementById(iframeId); iframe.style.display = ''; setTimeout(function () { setIframeHeight(initialResizeCallback); }, 20); } function getDocHeight(doc) { var contentDiv = doc.getElementById("iframeContent"); var docHeight = 0; if(contentDiv){ docHeight = Math.max( contentDiv.scrollHeight, contentDiv.offsetHeight, contentDiv.clientHeight ); } return docHeight; } function setIframeHeight(resizeCallback) { var iframeDoc, iframe = document.getElementById(iframeId); iframeDoc = ((iframe.contentWindow && iframe.contentWindow.document) || iframe.contentDocument); if (iframeDoc) { var h = getDocHeight(iframeDoc); if (h && h != 0) { iframe.style.height = parseInt(h) + 'px'; if(typeof resizeCallback == "function") { resizeCallback(iframeId); } } else if (nTries < MAX_TRIES) { nTries++; setTimeout(function () { setIframeHeight(resizeCallback); }, 50); } } } this.resizeIframe = function(resizeCallback) { nTries = 0; setIframeHeight(resizeCallback); } } return DynamicIframe; });

In 922 AD, an Arab envoy from Baghdad named Ibn Fadlan encountered a party of Viking traders on the upper reaches of the Volga River. In his subsequent report on his mission he gave a meticulous and astonishingly objective description of Viking customs, dress, table manners, religion and sexual practices, as well as the only eyewitness account ever written of a Viking ship cremation.

Between the ninth and fourteenth centuries, Arab travellers such as Ibn Fadlan journeyed widely and frequently into the far north, crossing territories that now include Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Their fascinating accounts describe how the numerous tribes and peoples they encountered traded furs, paid tribute and waged wars. This accessible new translation offers an illuminating insight into the world of the Arab geographers, and the medieval lands of the far north.

Read more
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    311 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    July 26 2012
  6. File size
    6.3 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
Next slide of product details

Product description

Review

"[An] exceptional little anthology. . . . It is a fascinating book, with a nugget of curious information on each page, adding up to a picture that turns preconceptions on their head. . . . These are not just interesting books: they go a long way towards undermining the stereotypes about Islam that have become such a toxic part of our current discourse."  —The Scotsman

About the Author

Ibn Fadlan was a tenth-century diplomat who, in 922 AD, was sent on a mission from Baghdad to the far north by the caliph Muqtadir. His subsequent account of his travels and the peoples he encountered is one of the most important documents from the period.

Paul Lunde studied at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies and specializes in Islamic history and literature. He is the author of Islam: Culture, Faith, and History and is working on an Internet project to map pre-modern Eurasian cultural and intellectual exchanges.

Caroline Stone has edited and written numerous books and articles, principally on textile history, medieval history and literature, Islamic culture and literature, and the cultural and economic relations between Europe and the Orient in the pre-modern era. With Paul Stone, she is translating a collection of the writings by the Arab geographer Mas'udi for Penguin Classics.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008DM2MXU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 26 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6.3 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 311 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141975047
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • 鶹 Rank: #452,634 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 657 ratings

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Previous page
  1. Aḥmad Ibn Faḍlān

    Aḥmad Ibn Faḍlān

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Paul Lunde

    Paul Lunde

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

    See more on the author's page
  3. Caroline E.M.Stone

    Caroline E.M.Stone

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Caroline Stone was educated at Cambridge and the University of Kyoto, Japan. She has lived and worked largely in Rome and Seville, with periods in Tunisia and Saudi Arabia and now, again, Cambridge. Interests include textiles - with a book and several catalogues on Chinese export embroideries published in Spanish - and travel accounts, particularly those written by people who don't normally write books - the poor, women, slaves...Several in the series listed here were produced with the support of the Civilizations in Contact Project at Cambridge University.

    Most recent publications are an edition of letters written by a family connection: the composer, and suffragette Ethel Smyth, whose lesbian amours included Virginia Woolf, and the edition of a translation from the Arabic by her late husband, Paul Lunde, of the autobiography of a young man from Aleppo, Hanna Diyab: The Man Who Wrote Aladdin.

    Work in progress includes a cookery book and family history written for Syrian Christian friends in Kerala and a blog,to be turned into an ebook: https://plagueanthology.com - first person reactions to plagues and epidemics - letters, poems, prayers, chronicles - across time and space.

    See more on the author's page
  4. Ibn Fadlan

    Ibn Fadlan

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

    See more on the author's page
Next page

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
657 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Top reviews from Canada

  • Yahya
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Insight Leaps Off The Page
    Reviewed in Canada on January 29, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This is an amazing first-hand insight into the medieval cultures of the regions of modern-day Turkey, Central Asia and Russia. Trained as a highly-educated Islamic scholar in the court of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtadir, Ibn Fadlan was commissioned as a secretary within a diplomatic envoy sent by Al-Muqtadir in 922 to the Bulgar King, who had requested religious instruction as a gesture of homage to the Abbasid's in exchange for military and financial support. As such, Ibn Fadlan recorded his interactions with various Turkic peoples he met along their journey, as well as with the Bulgars themselves and, perhaps most interestingly, a party of Scandinavian Vikings who had set-up as traders next to the Bulgar community, along the Volga River.

    Writing in short, journal-like entries, Ibn Fadlan records the social customs, dress and religious rights of the people they encounter, and it makes for some fascinating (and at times hilarious) commentary. Ibn Fadlan's writings are regarded as amongst the most important of the period, and his non-judgemental, objective attitude towards social customs which must have been shocking to a cosmopolitan Islamic intellectual from the hight of the Islamic Golden Age in Baghdad, is one of the many interesting take-aways for this reader. His eye-witness account of a Viking ship cremation is as shocking to read as it must have been to witness, yet he offers no moral condemnation, and instead documents a matter-of-fact account of what happened.

    The entries are short, and move the reader along quickly, and I found the descriptions and stories to be so intriguing and entertaining that I simply couldn't put the book down. I would highly recommended this for anyone seeking a better understanding of medieval life, as well as anyone interested in learning about peaceful, diplomatic interactions between Islamic civilization and pagan Europe.
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Klean
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ibn Fadlan was awesome
    Reviewed in Canada on January 11, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    The section by Ibn Fadlan was great. I really enjoy reading these compilations of first-person accounts. It was interesting to see dark-age Europe through Arab eyes.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Matt
    1.0 out of 5 stars Used book
    Reviewed in Canada on December 19, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Unfortunately the book is not new…
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • alex5892
    5.0 out of 5 stars My new favorite book
    Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Thoroughly enjoyed this and definitely one for my collection. I'm a lover of history, but books with a more academic tone can be a bit boring for me at times. This is my first time reading history through, essentially, someone's journal notes (multiple people). My imagination ran wild while reading this and although there are notes try to clarify what the writer likely meant, you can't help but let your mind roam in an attempt to "see things for yourself".
    Report
  • FAHAD NABEEL AHMED
    3.0 out of 5 stars Ibn Fadlan is The 13th Warrior !!!
    Reviewed in India on August 28, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This is a good book.
    3 stars because the cover on the bottom side of the spine was torn. Had to fix it with glue. Feeling too lazy to return it.
    Micheal Crichton's Eaters Of The Dead (The 13th Warrior starring Antonio Banderas) was a mashup of Ibn Fadlan's manuscript and the Beowulf saga. Ibn Fadlan's account of his journey is only about 60 pages long. Another 150 pages are reports by other Arab travellers, geographers and historians of medieval expeditions to the northlands. This edition has a lot of maps, a good bibliography for furthur reading, appendices and a glossary of Arab, Turkish words. Gog and Magog get the usual traditional treatment and are even represented on the medieval map on the cover.
    The scientific facts stated by the travellers are not accurate but these accounts give a keen insight into the social and cultural mores of people living in central-northern Europe in those times.
    Good for research as well as general reading.
    Report
  • Norberto Zuniga Mendoza
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interesante
    Reviewed in Mexico on May 7, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Una de las fuentes básicas para el estudio de la cultura eslava oriental. Imposible de encontrar en español. Esta edición es muy buen compendio de esas fuentes árabes.
    Report
  • Francesco
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great edition
    Reviewed in Italy on December 22, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Great edition for a book that every man in love with history and culture should read and know. Well done and printed, the paperback is strong and the book structure is very reader-friendly.

    I think the english translation is good (unfortunately the italian version of the manuscript is not complete).

    Delivered quickly (I'm from Italy).
    Report
  • Fat John
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interessante getuigenissen uit een ander tijdsgewricht
    Reviewed in the Netherlands on January 1, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Dit boek bundelt een aantal "as such" getuigenissen van Arabische bezoekers van het huidige Rusland, bij de toenmalige Bulgaren en Khazaren en Vikings ofte "Rus", wat erg leerzaam is voor de feiten én de tijdgeest.
    Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report