What Life Was Like in the Lands of the Prophet: Islamic World, Ad 570-1405

Doing research for a historical novel, and tiring of very long analyses with tiny print, I picked this one up at the library and immediately lost myself. It's great. Not quite detailed enough to be a serious reference, but the excellent bibliography will point you in the right direction. Tons of gorgeous pictures give the feel of the period, and a lengthy section (towards the end) paints the daily life of the famous Ibn Khaldun, whose writings are tapped as the primary source for that section. If you are looking for a good introduction to the mindset, daily life and framework of a certain period in history, I can think of no better starting point than these books.