This note contains spoilers for the book.

I was struck, while reading this, that it wouldn't surprise me if Patrick O'Brian were familiar with this series. They seem to have fairly compatible views of Middle Eastern cultures, anyway.

This is from the pulp era, of course, and set in a different, non-Christian, culture. But while it shows some signs of ignorance (probably more than I noticed), it doesn't seem to have the kind of domineering racism one might perhaps expect. But then, Martin Schafer is one of the people who recommended these to me.