Originally published: London: Quartet, 1988.

Translation of: Leon l'Africain.

Based on the life of Hasan al-Wazzan.

"[This novel] is basd on the true life story of Hason al-Wazzan, the sixteenth-century traveller and writer who came to be known as Leo the Africanus, or Leo the African. From his childhood in Fez, having fled the Christian inquisition, through his many journeys to the East as an intinerant merchant, Hasan's story is a quixotic catalogue of pirates, slave-girls and princesses, encompassing the complexities of a world in a state of religious flux. Hasan too is touched by the instability of the era, performing his hadj to Mecca, then converting to Christianity, only to revert to the Musslim faith later in life. In re-creating his extraordinary experiences, Amin Maalouf sketches an irresistible portrait of the Mediterranean world as it was nearly five centuries ago - the fall of Granada, the Ottoman conquest of Egypt, Renaissance Rome under the Medicis: all contribute to a background of spectacular colour, matched only by the picaresque adventures of Hasan's life."