In 1601, an English traveler sets off into the unknown to discover the East. Leaving behind a wife and children, he journeys to Alexandria, overland to Cairo and then to Gaza, encountering plots against his life and racing camels along the way. But Henry Timberlake then meets a companion who will change his life. A Moroccan Moor on his way to Mecca saves Timberlake's life, not once, but twice, and they become friends and travelling companions as the Moor detours to join the explorer in his voyage of discovery. In this fascinating true story of a seventeenth-century adventurer, Joan Taylor explores the relationship between East and West, Islam and Christianity at the foundation of the modern world. She provides a vivid picture of Jerusalem and the old Middle East at the time of the Ottoman Empire, and brings to life the true tale of friendship between two very different people whose paths happened to cross on the road to adventure.