Ibn Battuta's travels are interesting, but lacking in sense of the material development of the society. To be fair, Reilly says he's giving us a social and cultural history, but it's nice when he gives us selections which combine this with economic and political history. I would like to have seen essays explicitly connecting patterns over time. You can cobble some of his selections together to see patterns, and Reilly's comments and questions preceding each reading sometimes guide students to see trends over time. I would like, though, to have this made more explicit.
Textbooks often offer much bulk, but little substance.
Reilly's volumes, like good writing, say much in little space. The combination of primary source documents and essays, matched with his questions and comments, encourage critical thining. I would not use these volumes for distance learning, but do highly recommend his book as a complement to a lecture-oriented World History course.