Sir Steven Runciman was one of those Englishmen who was well educated, well traveled and knew almost everyone of importance in England. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, He ended up teaching at Cambridge till an unexpected inheritance allowed him to devout his full time to writing. Till his passing, in 2004, he was the doyen of Byzantine Studies. Most of his books are still in print. This one, unfortunately, is not. Instead of writing his memoirs Sir Steven wrote about his travels working his way through the alphabet. Besides being a brilliant lecturer, he could tell a story and he was funny.
Independent scholars like Runciman are very rare these days. Certainly scholars that were so well connected to the British establishment are very rare. If you enjoyed any of his books, "History of Crusades", "Sicilian Vespers", you should enjoy "A Traveller's Alphabet". ( )