Reviews (13)

Great resource
I just came back from a very nice trip to Japan, and having this book was really helpful. There is a lot of very helpful, accurate, and detailed information. I covered 4 cities, and rode every form of rail transportation. This book helped me with diverse tasks fromhow to choose which sites to see to how to navigate through the airports and train stations.
Not useful at all!
This book is terrible.I lived in Japan for more than a decade and I was planning a short excursion so I bought this book.It was not helpful at all.It covers the greatest hits ofJapan but has very little detail about most places. It seems to assume that you'd want to just ride the train all the time without ever getting off.Most of the suggested trips are incredibly unrealistic about the amount of time it would take to visit the listed places, almost to the point of ridiculousness.I do not recommend this book at all!Any other guide book and a rail map would be much better.
Japan By Rail
An excellent book to have with you whilst travelling around Japan by rail. Recommend the publication to anyone who will be travelling to Japan. Has excellent places to visit on a budget. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. Asia - Japan    3. Railroads - General    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Japan    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / Asia / Japan   

Reviews (2)

Robert Young Pelton
I've read everything he has out.Loved it!It's current (as books go), funny, serious and a great read!

A must of the armchair traveller....
Not exactly LP, but it tells stories of two places that beenRead more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. People of Color    3. Special Interest - Adventure    4. Travel    5. Travelers    6. Australasia, Oceania & Other Land Areas    7. Chechnya    8. Papua New Guinea    9. Russia    10. Sierra Leone    11. Travel / Adventure    12. Travel writing    13. Warfare & Defence   

Reviews (4)

JEWEL OF INDIA
The Taj Mahal is one of the most spectacularly beautiful buildings in the world, saying it's breathtaking does not do it justice.Not only is it gorgeous but it has one of the great romantic stories tied into its creation.This book does a wonderful job of giving the reader a real feel for this singular structure.The images are vivid and stunning and the scholarly text is highly informative.The intracate detail and exquisite craftmanship in this building are unparalleled.This sublime garden tomb is truly a wonder.If you have any interst in the Taj Mahal or just apprecate beautiful books then I cannot imagine you not loving this book, oh and be forwarned that after taking in this great book you will want to hop a plane to India.

Enchanting !
This famous monument of love has been a favorite of tourists especially romantics, for many generations now. Visitors from all over the world are drawn to its irresistible charm, beauty and grandeur. Excellent book
Namaste (Hindu Hi)Read more

Subjects:  1. Agra    2. Architecture    3. Architecture, Mogul    4. Asia - India    5. Guidebooks    6. India    7. Religious Buildings    8. Specific Religious Buildings Architecture    9. Taj Mahal (Agra, India)    10. Memorials, monuments    11. TRAVEL & HOLIDAY   

Reviews (2)

This book is a must-have!
This was my very first "Beatiful Cookbook".I used it all the time, until it mysteriously disappeared after a dinner I cooked for friends...I am a Chinese food junkie and felt lost without it until one day at an airport bookstore found it again and was overjoyed to pay FULL price and cram it into my bulging suitcase. i've been there- and this is for real
This book encompasses all regions- not just Canton.And its genuinely authentic- just like what you would find at fine restaurants in China (i've been there).A lot of great regional recipes (good schezuan).Read more

Subjects:  1. China    2. Cookery, Chinese    3. Cooking    4. Cooking / Wine    5. Description and travel    6. Regional & Ethnic - Asian    7. Regional & Ethnic - Chinese   

Reviews (1)

Indispensable Guidebook
I booked a tour to Mauritius in May-June 2004. Although I went with a travel agency, this book proved to be indispensable. I am rating it a five star based on my Mauritius experience only.
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Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Mauritius    5. Seychelles    6. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (8)

One of a kind!
In a few words Jim Corbett can transport you back 60-100 years & make you feel like you are right there beside him tracking a Tiger in India. There is no bravado, he comes across as very humble. I had read his "Man-Eaters of Kumaon" several years ago & thought it was without a doubt one of the best books I had ever read. Even knowing how good his books were I was still highly impressed with this book as well. It isn't just the tigers he describes but the whole Indian country-side & the people & animals that habitat the place. He takes you there. Don't hesitate to read one of his books.
Words cant describe my respect for this man
Once again in this book Jim Corbett has proved it, he was a awesome incredible gentleman. I have never seen anyone who could write like him. Amazing man with amazing courage. His modesty is revealed throughout his book. He goes through so much suffering and pain, but never once writes about it. From his book you can feel how much concern he had for people. People trusted him with with their lives. His book teaches us a lot about jungles. I would recommend this to anyone who likes animals. Once again Jim Corbett you were and still are the best writes of adventures.

You must read this book!!!!!!!!!!
Known locally in India as "Carpet Sahib", a mispronunciation of his name, Colonel Jim Corbett was called upon time and time again to rid the hills of Kumaon of man eating Tigers and Leopards.This book is one of his many spine thrilling depictions of his hunting adventures with maneaters in India.I've read this and his other books many times..and I still read them when I have time.... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Essays & Travelogues    3. Hunting - General    4. Hunting Sports    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Sports & Recreation    7. Biography: sport    8. Hunting or shooting animals & game    9. India    10. Science / Zoology    11. Travel, Sports, & Recreation | Travel | Essays & Memoirs   

Reviews (1)

An essential map .
The Periplus Myanmar map is an indispensable purchase you must make before you enter the country in order to plan and execute your trip, since you will find it very hard to find one once you are in.Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southeast    2. Maps    3. Maps & Road Atlases    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Myanmar (Burma)    7. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (5)

Superb documentation of a Chinese working woman
This riveting book details an area of Chinese life seldom touched by written records. The remarkable friendship between Ida Pruitt and Ning Lao Toai-Toai has led to this very readable, and beautifully textured description of Ning Lao Toai-Toai's life in the late 19th and early 20th century. I found it both an enjoyable read and a valuable source of information about my research related to Chinese family life.

A Slice of Life
Ning Lao Ta'i-ta'i. _The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman. Translated and Transcribed by Ida Pruitt. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1967. I Really Liked this book!
I had to read this book for a core class in college and I thought that I would have hated it.Actually, I really liked it.It told of a Chinese working woman's life.It even gives the reader an insight into her lifestyle and her struggles during this tumuluous time in history.The story even touches on the japanese invasion.I didn't think this biography would be interesting but it was.I would recommended this book to anyone.It is a light read and it is very interesting. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1867-    2. Asia - China    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. China    6. Historical - General    7. Ning, Lao Tai-tai,    8. Ning, Lao T°ai-t°ai,    9. Social life and customs    10. Working class women    11. Biography: general   

Reviews (1)

Thin gruel for tourists
"Lonely Planet's" guide to Bangladesh is pretty thin --less than 200 pages -- for a country with a population of 150 million.Well, there's a reason for that.Bangladesh is hardly a tourist paradise.
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Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. Asia - Southeast    3. HotelsInnsetc.    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Bangladesh    7. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (11)

Oddly out of date
No guide is perfect, but some are better than others.In the case of Lonely Planet, some are great, others leave a bit to be desired.For whatever reason, the Kyoto guide is missing some important pieces of information that I would have wanted to see.For example, the best vegetarian restaurant in the city, and one of the few places a veggie can eat some authentic Japanese "meat" dishes (made with fake meat) is the Peace Cafe -- which is not listed in Lonely Planet though it's been around for a few years.Another example:The "japanese-only guides" at the Shigakuin Imperial Residence still holds true....except they have a full audio guide now, recorded in English, with lots of information at most stops made by the Japanese tour.

Other guides?
I borrowed this guide from a friend and have leafed through it. I haven't decided if I want to buy it yet when I go to Kyoto later this year.
Waste of money - poor maps, poor info, poorly organized
Where do I start? Poor maps, chaotic organization or boring writing? Or perhaps ugly, poor quality photographs (except cover which is really nice - this is the trademark feature of this honestpublisher, which is only [inexpensive] as far as publishing costs are concerned, without bothering to reduce the price of the book itself).Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - Japan    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Japan    5. Travel & holiday guides   

Reviews (16)

A classic of travel litterature that still raises enthusiasm
How did I come to read this book? It is a period that I am interested in Central Asia history and else, because I became aware that European culture has long ignored this part of the world. I was talking with my father who has an encyclopedic knowledge on almost every topic (sic!) and he asked me if I had read this book. After a long search we found it in his library in an italian translation and a Bruce Chatwin presentation. He had read it because interested in Islamic architecture and art. This breif introduction is to underline how this book is not only a great travel book in the line of those written by foreign travelers in the 1930's, but also an original, well-documented and researched book on islamic architecture of the medieval and modern period. Actually, the author who was an amatuer historian of the arts (read his other books on Mount Athos and Byzantine art) intended this book to be a first-hand report on islamic architecture that had not been seen and described as a whole in those times at least in european countries. The english had a "great game" vision of Central Asia that consisted essentially of folklore, customs, a little history and much adventure with the fiend represented by the russians. What Byron went looking for instead was the the expression of the concept of space that had taken place in the east. He identifies the subtle transitions from roman-greek architecture to the islamic revolution, that will be successivelly reimported to Europe years later in the Romanic period. He is particularly fascinated by the arch and the dome and their evolution, and he is probably the first to identify the "iwan" as an architectural feature. As to tiles, that are the other main feature of islamic decoration, he captures the hues of the blues and turquoises, yellows and browns and the way they respond to light and mesmerizes the reader with their description.
Great writing, great landscape, great characters - read it!
This wonderful account by Robert Byron of his travels through Persia and Afghanistan is spare when it should be spare: "Lifar came to dinner. Bertie mentioned that all whales have syphilis" (a complete paragraph from page 19) and effusive when it should be effusive: "Here the green resolved, not into ordinary grass, but into wild corn, barley, and oats, which accounted for that vivid fire, as of a life within the green. And among these myriad bearded alleys lived a population of flowers, buttercup and poppies, pale purple irises and dark purple campanulas, and countless others..." (from a paragraph on page 200). Never mind the country he was traveling through, I just love his prose. They are never trite, never clich�. It's almost as if when a hackneyed phrase would have done, he sought hard for something bright, fresh, new.
Interesting View of an Area Now in the Spotlight
In the 1930's this part of the world was far, far away from Britain and the United States. Recent events have placed these countries and people in the forefront. In some ways, Byron's experiences are not much different than those of today. Some of his observations seem quite prescient, but really just help give us a clear picture of an area that has seen a lot of history, and is the stage for more of the same today.
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Subjects:  1. Afghanistan    2. Byron, Robert,    3. Description And Travel    4. Education    5. General    6. History - General    7. Iran    8. Middle East    9. Middle East - General    10. Travel    11. Travel - United States    12. United States - General    13. Byron, Robert    14. Literature/English | British Literature | 20th C    15. Travel / Middle East / General    16. Travel writing   

Reviews (14)

Wonderful!
If you like adventure literature, you should find this piece really wonderful. I read it while I was alone at home for a week and I started to "feel" leopards all aronud the house at night. Very well writen, hard to stop reading.

Adventures dont get better than this.
Corbett is a natural writer and combines his knowledge of the jungle with uncanny hunting skills to give us one of the best Indian adventures ever written. Reading his books is not just following a maneater with a gun but a journey into the days of theBritish Raj where you will be transported into the remote jungles of Northern India, read about the simple people and their unsophisticated lifestyle. There are no villians, no suspicious characters lurking around and nobody to provide humour. You just have some village folk trying to eke out a living which is sometimes interrupted by a feline with a taste for humans.
Corbett Classic
Another excellent book from the corbett library. Its true that fact can be stranger than fiction. And no where is it more evident than in the story of the maneater of rudraprayag. Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Description and travel    4. General    5. Hunting Sports    6. India    7. Leopard hunting    8. Machine Theory    9. Sports & Recreation    10. Biography: sport    11. Hunting or shooting animals & game    12. Science / Zoology   

Editorial Review

In the steady hands of poet George Crane, previously unknown Zen master Tsung Tsai comes off as truly extraordinary. A "poet, philosopher, house builder, scientist, doctor, and when necessary, kung fu ass-kicker," Tsung Tsai would still be wandering about anonymously if it were not, Crane says, for the need of financing provided by an advance on this book. The last of the monks from his Chinese monastery, Tsung Tsai felt he had to return one last time to find and honor his master's bones and rekindle his tradition. Crane recounts their joint adventure, opening with Tsung Tsai's harrowing decades-earlier escape from newly communist China, walking from Inner Mongolia to Hong Kong through a war-torn, famine-struck, psychotic land, nearly starving along the way. Crane, a self-styled hedonist ne'er-do-well, who says that meditation makes him nauseous, sets the stage for an entrancing buddy story back to China with this highly disciplined but carefree Zen master. As their mutual affection grows, Crane absorbs Tsung Tsai's spare but demanding philosophy, which sustains them through the base poverty of northern China, a life-threatening 18-hour climb up and down a treacherous mountain, and a confrontation with a master of black magic. A page-turner and an eye-opener, Read more

Reviews (59)

This Book Many Fun
That's how the Chinese monk Tsung Tsai, one of the main characters in the story, might describe this wonderful book with his broken English.I bought it as a change of pace from my usual reading material and it provided the escape I needed.Just a few pages into the story and I was addicted to it.I could visualize everything in the story as if I were there.No memoir can actually transmit the experience of the author, but this one comes close.I can't recommend it too highly.

A religious adventure of multilevel reading
It's difficult to say something original after 58 reviews! A book that get's so many is probably worth it.
Crane is everyman.
It is because of the humaness of the author that I found this book particularly fascinating.He is at once a seeker and a self confessed liar.Who of us isn't?I am so dreary of all of these books by those who have all of the answers.Crane, like the rest of us, doesn't even profess to know the questions.How refreshing.For all of us with the spirit of wanderlust and the desire to know things we can't even express, Crane is our very capable guide.May the god of his choice bless him. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Buddhism    3. Buddhism - Zen    4. China    5. General    6. New Age    7. Priest, Buddhist    8. Priests    9. Travel - General    10. Body, Mind & Spirit / New Age   

Reviews (1)

Been there, Used it
I used this book during my six weeks in Nepal spring 2004 (trekking in Lantang, Helambu and Annapurna regions), and was glad to have it.In fact, I have my copy sitting in front of me right now!It gives detailed information on many of the better-traveled treks, along with some that are more out of the way.Plenty of information, including topo maps, to help you plan your trip or your day.Before I bought it, I sat down with several other guidebooks in an actual bookstore (yes, they do still exist!), and really felt that this one was the winner.
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Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Asia - India    3. Hiking    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Walking    7. Himalayas    8. Nepal    9. Travel & holiday guides    10. Walking, hiking, trekking   

Reviews (4)

Interesting for what it is...
The premise of this book is fascinating, and for what it is it's an interesting read.I found the book a little long winded and dramatic in its descriptions, and a little quick to jump to far-reaching conclusions.I don't think anyone will be surprised to learn that the well-trained "intourist" guides spout the party line (but - shockingly! - probably have opinions of their own), and that the average Soviet citizen wasn't thrilled with their government (is anyone?).
Detailed account of travels through a vast land
As an interested reader of the Soviet Union and Russian culture, I picked this book up two years after I read In Siberia. I was amazed at the amount of detail the author poured into his journeys across the Soviet Union. He was able to visit the Russian citizens, homesteads of famous icons of years back (Tolstoy among them) and see cathedrals we can only see in pictures. His writing style and demeanor may strike readers as distant and unattached but he went over there to observe and he did not observe this place through rose-colored lenses-he showed us what Russia was really like in 1980. If you strictly want to read about Russia, you may be disappointed when you read the material towards the end which is about Georgia and Armenia, but my ignorance of those former republics were replaced with notions that they might be more beautiful and more interesting than all of Western Russia. The whole way through you will be captivated, appalled and intrigued with his journey. This is a must-read for anyone interested in Russian culture.

A trip through the Soviet Union
Written by someone who somehow managed to drive a clunker with UK plates through the Iron Curtain between West and East Germany and all the way to Moscow.Thubron then motors all the way to present day Azerbaijan and St.Petersburg.It is a snapshot not of present day Russia but of 1980 Soviet Union.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1939-    2. Description and travel    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. Former Soviet republics    5. General    6. Russia    7. Thubron, Colin,    8. Travel    9. Travel - Foreign    10. Journeys    11. Thubron, Colin    12. Travel / General   

Reviews (17)

Another Quiet American
I truly enjoyed this book but would warn readers that change is proceeding very rapidly in Laos and Mr. Dakin's portrait is rapidly becoming dated.Having just (March 2006) returned from Laos, I can report that major cities have multiple internet cafes, fancy restaurants, and many things absent when Mr. Dakin was there in 1999-2000.But this is nevertheless an excellent book one should read and Laos is a place you should visit before it is TOO LATE!!!

Easy reading about encounters with Falang and locals in Laos
What I really liked about this book was Brett Dakin's ability to write what he saw as he saw it without adding a ponderous analysis, and maintaining his perspective as a wide eyed foreigner learning and listening rather than trying to pass himself as an expert which is a temptation for any author.
What a wimp!
My wife is Lao. We plan to move back to Vientiane in a few months to live. I am counting the minutes.
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Subjects:  1. Asia - Southeast    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Dakin, Brett    4. Description and travel    5. Essays & Travelogues    6. General    7. Laos    8. Social life and customs    9. Travel    10. Travel / Asia / Southeast    11. Travel / Essays & Travelogues    12. Travelers   

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southeast    2. Reference - Guides (General)    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel Guides    6. Travel / Asia / Southeast   

Reviews (4)

Compelling
After watching the DVD and looking at this book, it has compelled me to take action... It's incredibly moving and very powerful!

A documentary of extraordinary children born into the most wretched of circumstances
Zana Briski came up with a unique idea. Give the children in Calcutta's red-light district their own cameras and let them take pictures of their lives. The result was a documentary of extraordinary children born into the most wretched of circumstances where the girls were destined to enter their mother's trade of prostitution and the boys would join related criminal enterprises. The award-winning film documentary has now produced a unique and extraordinary coffee-table book of photography showcasing Zana Briski's own work in collaboration with these children's photography over a period of seven years. This is also the story of how Briski began holding photography workshops to instruct these children in the basics of photography from lighting and composition to editing and narrative sequencing. Some of these children became so skilled and adept that their developed and developing photography skills could eventually be the source of their emancipation from the lowest rung of Calcutta social and cultural ladder. Highly recommended reading, "Born Into Brothels" would make a stellar addition to academic and community library Photography collections, Indian Studies reference shelves, and Women's Studies supplemental reading lists.
Rich in Color and Atmosphere Despite the Tragedy of the Theme
BORN INTO BROTHELS is a welcome addition to the books on color photography.Granted these shots are extracted from the award winning film, a feature documentary exploring the sad and at times sordid lives of these eight children born to prostitutes in the red light district of Calcutta, India.But what photographer Zana Briski has captured in richly brilliant colors is not focused on tragedy or the smarmy aspect of the places in which these children live.Instead she has found the beauty in the innocence of these children, living in a closed world without much hope of escape - except through the gracious ingenuity of Briski who held classes, teaching these children how to use the camera, offering a transient glimpse of a world they might never know.
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Subjects:  1. Calcutta    2. Children    3. Children of prostitutes    4. General    5. India    6. Photo Essays    7. Photoessays & Documentaries    8. Photography    9. Pictorial works    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Social conditions    12. Subjects & Themes - Children    13. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Asia    14. Photographs: collections    15. Photography / General   

Reviews (4)

Good but outdated
This book is does an OK job describing activities for kids, but it is VERY outdated.Israel is changing rapidly and this book is in need of a new revised edition.It lists places like the Dolphinarium as a place to take kids.The Dolphinarium was turned in to a disco years ago.
An outstanding guidebook to a remarkable land
Barbara Sofer is one of the most knowledgable writers on everyday life in the land of Israel. In this outstanding guide she pays special attention to the attractions which will be especially appealing to families.
Excellent guide for parents taking their children to Israel
We used this book every day of our 2 week trip to Israel with 3 children aged 1-8.Our friends then borrowed the book for a 3 week trip with 5children aged 6-16.The sections of the book are broken down by geography,with handy maps to assist you in setting up your schedule, whether yourhotel is in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Tiberias or Eilat.The greatest benefitsof the book include the phone numbers of the tourist sites as well as thehours which each location is open.The author even recommends ideal hotelsand activities based on your children's ages. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Family & Relationships / Activities    2. Guidebooks    3. Israel    4. Middle East - Israel    5. Politics/International Relations    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel / Asia / General    8. Activities    9. Family    10. Family Travel    11. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. Asia - India    2. Guidebooks    3. India, South    4. Reference - Guides (General)    5. South India    6. Travel    7. Travel - Foreign    8. Travel Guides    9. India    10. Travel & holiday guides    11. Travel / Asia / India