Freelance writer and photographer Carol Miller confirms herself a dedicated historian in "Travels in Syria." After years of painstaking research, Miller offers readers a front-row seat to an ancient world with recovered court records, ancient household items, and the documentation of Anna Komnene, one of the first female historians, who wrote of her Byzantine father's reign.

Behind Miller's work is a less weighty, but equally appealing travel narrative as the author and her husband-companion move among modern civilizations juxtaposed against the remains of an earlier time.

"It's a...