No comments about Michelin Africa Central & South, Madagascar (Michelin Map).

5 comments about South Africa (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

1. I bought South Africa (Eyewitness Travel Guides) and have found it very helpful. We already had an itinerary planned and this guide showed us where we would be visiting, the weather, and gave useful background on each area. This guidebook gives pictorial views of historical sites, attractions etc. This was enlightening information, some of the places we will be going are far larger in area than we would have imagined. Also the attraction maps will help us keep oriented so time is not wasted being lost. With this guide and a good detail map of South Africa we gained insight about the length of travel needed each day. The biggest plusses were the pictures and drawings, they really are worth a thousand words as used in this guide. There is plenty of "survival" information; important phone numbers, medical suggestions, lodging recommendations etc. Lots of fun to read just for enjoyment!



2. Before I went to Cape Town, a thoughtful friend gave me this book, and I couldn't thank her enough. And although my comments below apply to the South Africa volume, they could well be applied to the entire series, which is excellent.
   
   The layout of the book is immediately arresting. Rather than imposing blocks of sheer text, the editors use tons of photographs, maps and other graphics. Just randomly flipping through this book is entertaining, which is not always the case with these types of publications. The typefaces are clear and well-chosen, and the enticing pages include many illustrations, the most unusual of which are cutaway diagrams of major buildings. These drawings are quite beautiful, and an unexpected delight in a book like this.
   
   Other sections deal with history, art and business. And still more sections cover "nuts and bolts" items like hotels and restaurants, and vital information such as availability of banks and ATMs, doctors and hospitals, and other trip considerations that one might overlook in the rush to depart. The book is a nice size to tuck into a bag, and will give hours of pleasure even after the trip is over.
   
   I've used guides by Fodor, Michelin and others, and although those are quite good, these Eyewitness publications really raise the bar.



3. I got this book as a present before i went to south africa. I was excited because I have heard that these books are really good. But after reading through the book, I quickly realizied that it did not give me enough information. I am in South Africa, I see how beautiful it is. I don't need to see pictures, I need maps, (there were only maps for Capetown)information about what i am seeing, costs of addmission, times, ect. There were none, and it became really annoying and unpleasant at many times. These books are good for people who just want to see how other countries/cities look like, but not travel to them. If you want a good travel book, look for the Lonely planet series.



4. I first discovered these books (a series Eyewitness Travel) by accident in a Stockholm bookstore. I had just come from Gothenborg by train and was a bit dazed. The book I bought by accident was in swedish but it still useful because of all the photos, cut away views, museum pictures, and maps and historical details. When I got home I bought a pile on Amazon.com of different places that I was going or had visited - but in english.
   
   On a cold day back here in the USA (or Canada) or elsewhere, have a glass of wine and sit in a nice chair or in the garden on a warm day and read this book. For a moment you will be back in South Africa. You are back in a small restaurant overlooking a busy street in Cape Town.
   
   The photos and desicriptions and cutaway drawings are excellent. Plus they throw in some history and details on the art and many other things of interest. A solid 400 page effort - lots of stuff to see and absorb. What is attractive about this book is that South Africa is not a well traveled country so we are not so familiar with the coutry. But the book brings it all to life with just magnificent photos and maps.



5. Excellent travel guide!
   It's very up-to-date and has a lot of detailed information.
   I especially loved the street-by-street and pictorial maps -extremely helpful!!!
   The only downside is that it doesn't really list any low-budget accomodation, the ones recommended are more on the high end...

5 comments about Ghana, 3rd: The Bradt Travel Guide.

1. If you are traveling to Ghana, West Africa, this is the essential guide to have with you. It has an easy to read layout and includes everything you would ever need to know. I highly recommend this if you are going to that area. I am glad I own a copy!



2. Observations, current and pertainent info, from knowledgeable travelers who've been there. This is the stuff you want to know to plan a successful journey.



3. Book very informative, with excellent info on where to go and how to get there. Plan to put it to good use in the fall!



4. I visited Ghana in April 2007, and although I was visiting relatives and so had some local contacts, this book was a great help, both from the point of view of planning my trip and learning about the country. The short commentaries from various contributors on subjects such as local wildlife, nightlife or travelling solo as a woman, were especially informative and often entertaining as well. The maps in particular, while simple, were indispensable, as good local maps can be quite difficult to find even in Ghana.
   
   A useful additional tool are the regular updates to the guide on the Bradt website, which have many contributions from recent travellers, including places that are closed (either temporarily or permanently) and recommendations for additional places to stay/eat or visit. I've heard that the 4th edition is due out in fall of 2007, and I'm tempted to go ahead and get it, too, for my next visit!



5. My daughter is in college, and is currently at the University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. I bought her this before she left, and she has found it to be an invaluable resource!
   Marti

No comments about Viajes por Europa, Africa y Norte America - 1845/1847.

No comments about Tanzania Travel Pack (Globetrotter Travel Packs).

4 comments about Murder Unpunished: How the Aryan Brotherhood Murdered Waymond Small and Got Away with It.

1. Inmates bent on running the asylum in an out-of-control prison dominated by homicidal gangs. Official corruption. Fraudulent land scales. A car bombing. Jurisdictional struggles. Hypnosis. A hung-over judge. Prosecutorial misconduct. A senile attorney.
   What might sound like the ingredients of an over-wrought novel are the facts of Durango author Thornton W. Price III's nonfiction true crime book, "Murder Unpunished," published by The University of Arizona Press on July 1.
   The cast of characters includes a future U.S. Supreme Court justice (Sandra Day O'Connor), a future Democratic presidential candidate (Bruce Babbitt) and the man who pioneered the psychological autopsy (Dr. Otto Bendheim).
   But most of the players in this extraordinary peek at Arizona State Prison run amok came straight from Satan's casting call, even down to the unfortunate Waymond Small, possibly one of the nation's least likable murder victims.
   The time is the late 1970s. In less than two years, there have been 14 murders and dozens of assaults at Arizona State Prison. The Arizona Republic has cast a relentless eye on the mayhem. The political pressure to do something ratchets up. And finally the Aryan Brotherhood takes a bridge too far with the murder of Small on the eve of his testimony to the state legislature.
   Price, the author, was a young attorney. One of the inmates charged in connection with Small's death-a group collectively known as the Florence Eleven-ends up being Price's first murder case.
   Tempting though it must have been, Price wisely avoids much use of the first-person in this economically written account of five murder trials. When he does resort to it, it's justified by the insight it offers.
   My own first nonfiction true crime book, "Someone Has to Die Tonight," is scheduled to be published as a Pinnacle mass market paperback in March. I know the challenge Price took on in combing through 16,000 pages of court records and conducting interviews with key players for his narrative.
   I also know how his involvement in the case probably made the task harder. I became a confidential informant in the case of a self-styled teen militia that I was documenting. Separating oneself from the story and keeping the narrative focused becomes more difficult when there's a personal connection.
   The Florence Eleven was the case for Price: The case that every cop, attorney or crime reporter knows about-the one you never forget. In spite of this, Price showed remarkable discipline in his writing, and it serves his readers well.
   My literary attorney, Bob Pimm, counseled me to make my book a train ride that readers wouldn't want to get off. The train needs to take off in the first chapter, he said, and the reader needs to want to say on all the way to the end.
   Price kept me on the train.
   "Murder Unpunished" has moments of writing that jumps out for its eloquence or economy. He describes one murder in two pithy sentences: "Even with a loaded gun to his head, the idiot wouldn't shut up. He'd dared him to shoot, so he did."
   And here's how one of the large cast is introduced: "With a thin, six-foot-seven-inch frame, Jerry Joe `Stretch' Hillyer looked like he'd survived the rack."
   And here, another: "Born in Scottsdale one week before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Tidwell's life began in as much ruin as the Pacific Fleet."
   Price knows we need humor in a dark tale ridden with murder, rape and drug abuse, and he finds it (somehow it always seems to be there, even in the darkest crime, often because of the extraordinary stupidity of some criminals, whose choices in life seem determined to provide job security for police and prosecutors).
   "Did you see anything?" a tired investigator asks in one of 650 inmate interviews after Small's murder.
   "No."
   "Would you tell us if you had seen anything?"
   And then there's Price's account of the state's attempts to hypnotize a witness, a chapter that may alone justify the book's $17.95 cover price.
   True crime is a tempting genre for the very reason that makes readers sometimes skeptical the writer could really know all he portrays. How could we know people's thoughts? How could we recapture dialog years after the fact?
   It's possible because of the uniquely thorough nature of investigative and court records, around which entire books can be built. It's not an easy task sifting thousands of pages for the specks of gold that add up to a compelling narrative. There are a lot of mediocre true crime books out there. Price's is not one of them.
   Here we find a writer unafraid to show a criminal's sheer enjoyment of violence. A writer who's resisted the temptation to include every fact or exchange he personally finds compelling, restraint that must sometimes have been painful.
   He knows court procedure and introduces us to terms such as the "slow-form guilty plea"-the trial of someone obviously guilty from the get-go.
   He shows us the Mau Maus, the Mexican Mafia, the Native Brotherhood and the Aryan Brotherhood out of control in Arizona's penal system and what was done to fix it. He gets the prison language of kites, fish and punks exactly right in a sometimes profane book that avoids overdosing on cussing and violence.
   He explains very well why prison crimes are so singularly hard to investigate.
   Down among the human dross, Price somehow emerges with none of the nastiness sticking to him or the reader. Better, he somehow makes us care.
   He gives fascinating insight into how the Aryan Brotherhood worked, like a business. And he offers some motivation without making excuses for his unattractive cast.
   The case comes as close to Durango as Chimney Rock, just off Highway 160.
   Despite a misprint in the spelling of Price's name on the cover (one of those palm to the forehead blunders that has probably cost some hapless copyeditor restful sleep) "Murder Unpunished" is otherwise flawlessly edited.
   This is entertaining, educational and compelling. I hope Price will find another case somewhere in his career worth writing about.



2. `Murder Unpunished: How the Aryan Brotherhood Murdered Waymond Small and Got Away with It' by Thornton W. Price III, has brought to life the events that I only remembered through newscast snippets and the occasional news paper editorial.
   
   `Murder Unpunished' allows the reader to contemplate the concepts of the law being rational, yet the interpretation of the law may seem irrational. The reader can also reflect on why a person can act despicable yet still receive grace. Mr. Price presents the reader with an opportunity to question the concepts of revenge and universal justice. These themes of duality, like old friends, are revisited here in the pages penned by Mr. Price from his autobiographical and historic perspectives that have matured over time. He is unapologetic.
   
   I for one wish to apologize for the state of Arizona's justice.



3. Murder Unpunished: How the Aryan Brotherhood Murdered Waymond Small and Got Away With It is a telling example of the truth that entering prison is like entering another culture or country. The rules, customs, and behaviors are foreign to those in the free world. People outside of the walls will never be able to appreciate or accept. The problem, however, is that the prisons are within our country and need to abide by the laws of the United States of America. This book did an excellent job of asking the question, "does justice occur after incarceration?" The short answer is, no. The bigger question to ask is, "when will this country enact laws that can adequately deal with prison gangs and the control that they have in our criminal justice system?" This book is a telling example of all the state and federal correctional facilities will experience with any prison gangs that occupy them. It is a must read for all correctional employees and lawmakers.



4. This book was very informitive about the code that convicts live under. Its a testament to learning to keeping your mouth shut when you do some dirt. Prison gangs are hardcore and the Aryan Brotherhood was formed in california with blood and sacrafice to protect white inmates, anybody who joins knows the commitment they are making as a soildier ( blood in blood out )

1 comments about South Africa, 8th (Footprint - Travel Guides).

1. I have to say that I had no real desire to visit South Africa until I got this book and now it's on my travel list of possible destinations along with Hawaii, Antarctic, Canada, Alaska, Italy, Spain, France, etc. The book is beautifully written, researched, and explained well by the co-authors Francisca Kellett and Lizzie Williams. On the cover, Michael Palin CBE said "Great traveling companions, constantly entertaining and they know what they're talking about." Anyway, the colored photos of nature and culture in this book are first rate. I used the pages about apartheid to teach my students about it in literature class. South African writers like Doris Lessing CH, Nadine Gordimer (Nobel prizewinner 1991) and J.M Coetzee (Nobel Prizewinner) are all wonderful to read but Lessing wasn't mentioned. I wished they had mentioned Rhodesia but this book is tour guide and not a history book but it does delve in the dark history of apartheid. It does give you warnings about how to be careful when you are visiting South Africa. I still would love to visit South Africa and desire one day to go and see not only the natural beauty, enjoy the beaches that look incredible, and see wildlife in it's natural environment.

No comments about Wallpaper City Guide: Cape Town (Wallpaper City Guide).

2 comments about The Adventures and Misadventures of Peter Beard in Africa.

1. "The Adventures and Misadventures of Peter Beard in Africa" is a spectacular look at the life of this well-known photagrapher and author. The writing is vivid and fascinating. The book is also illustrated throughout with Mr.Beard's excellent photographs. This book is a history lesson, ecology lesson, and art lesson all rolled up in one book, and is well worth reading. A real gem, about an amazing personality!



2. Peter Beard has not gotten wiser in his old age. He has given into his vices and chosen the superficial payoffs over any morals. He has found no escape from his aimlessness, no direction from his chaotic meanderings. Where has this man ever really gone? Why has he become so tragic? This book reveals the illusion of greatness, the anticipation of accomplishment. But sadly, decades later, we see how withered and little this man has become. One wonders, was he ever even exceptional? He seemed fearless and passionate. Now, he just seems fatally emphatic and senseless. He is like a machine grinding to a halt.

No comments about East African Wildlife (Bradt Travel Guide).