1 comments about Turkey - Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette (Culture Smart!).

1. If you are a casual traveler to Turkey or a serious one, these books are essential to read, to know the customs and habits of the country. It is not only useful, it is a courtesy you should show to ever country you step foot on their soil. We'd want people visiting America to know about us what this book tells us about Turkey. Read it, absorb it, and follow it.

2 comments about Urbanatomy: Shanghai 2008.

1. Got my hands on an Urbanatomy Shanghai book from my friend who has just come back from there on holiday. This book is crazy - it covers about every inch of the city. It is kind of split into two parts - the front focusing oneach area of the city, the back on a load of sub-categories like food, economics etc.
   
   Never seen a guide, well this is more than a guide I suppose, that is like this as it goes into areas that you wouldn't normally see. And its all written like a Shanghai lovefest! There are loads of stunning photos in it too, particularly this guy Heungman who has done an entire Noir series of the huge construction there.
   
   The titles are interesting enough themselves with sections like - "soaring and sinking - a city built on tofu" and "doors of perception - creative visions in an opened Shanghai."
   
   It's good for a guide, or like me someone who is just interested in foreign cities - a real eye-opener about what will no doubt be one of the most fascinating cities for years to come.



2. I was excited about the publication of this book and excited by the review by Bill Heaton (above). Having relied heavily on the "insider's Guide to Beijing" (q.v.) while in that city, this book is somewhat similar and a God-send for those moving to or traveling in Shanghai, with many easy to use features (see the customer images at the top).
   
   Written by and for people living in the metropolis, it is half practical information and half "whys and wherefores" of this rapidly changing city. The photographs alone merit hours of study and I really appreciated the informative text boxes throughout.
   
   I do have a couple of peeves however, both of which I'm sure will be addressed in updated edition. 1) it desperately needs Chinese characters for names and addresses in the sidebars that flank each page. Knowing that the restaurant is called "Café Montmartre" is of no practical use in trying to tell a taxi driver or asking directions without the Chinese characters, and this is only availible in an exceedingly small, light font in the back of the index (and in the index, only the names are given in Chinese...to discover the street name in Chinese you have to look in yet a third place!). 2) The maps in this book are next to no help. Each of the 12 zones described in the book begins with a map, but there is no overarching map to situate the zones. Where the heck IS Zone 5: Luwan?? Is it North or South of Suzhou Creek? What other zones is it next to? Also, while the names of the streets are in Chinese and English, none of the maps have any of the venues marked on them, so that can be frustrating.
   
   I think this is a GREAT start, and I'm sure that with some tweaking the next edition will become an urban legend!

No comments about In the Realm of the Gods: Lands, Myths, and Legends of China.

1 comments about Pocket Map and Guide Beijing (EYEWITNESS POCKET MAP & GUIDE).

1. A perfect guide for a visit to Beijing for 3-4 days. Hits all the highlights, with beautiful photos and clear foldout maps. Will slip easily into any shirt pocket or purse. A great alternative to bulkier guides if you prefer to carry your book with you and are content to keep your information and visits to the top 12-15 sites.

1 comments about Simon Winchester's Calcutta (Writer & Place).

1. This book is, in my opinion, a close second to Blaise and Mukherjee's "Days and Nights in Calcutta" as the best introduction to Calcutta for westerners. Winchester's own views and experiences are valuable, but it is in his choice of other voices that this book comes into its own.

No comments about India Chic (Chic Destination).

1 comments about Republic of Georgia Map by ITMB.

1. I took this map on my trip to Georgia and found it most useful; the best part is the list of interesting attractions for every section of the map! You can't find this there, so get it before you go.

1 comments about Begums, Thugs, and White Mughals: The Journals of Fanny Parkes.

1. A rare and delightful travelogue......
   
   Fanny Parkes should be ever grateful to William Dalrymple for rediscovering and bringing out her 'unique and wonderful' travelogue on India - the long-titled " Wanderings of a Pilgrim in search of the Pictureseque, During four and twenty years in the East; with revelations of Life in the Zenana" originally published in 1850 by Pelham Richardson.....yet once again to the world at large.
   
   It is 'unique' because Fanny Parkes is at once an observant, fluent, compassionate, intelligent and fairly without prejudice as a travel writer in the mid 19th century when British arrogance on the colonised peoples colored almost all printed material written in the english language. This book is one rare exception. Its 'wonderful', because the writing style of Parkes is amazingly contemporary and unless one is reminded, it would be impossible to guess that these journals were written almost 175 years ago. Her observations cover almost all aspects of a European living and travelling in 1820's in India.
   
   Her journal is like a rare encyclopedia on all things Indian and peppered with thousands of anecdotes on all the nuances and nuggets of daily life.
   
   One of the most enjoyable and priceless books....

5 comments about Culture Shock! Jakarta: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette (Culture Shock! at Your Door) (Culture Shock! at Your Door).

1. Viewed from a safe distance, it's easy to assume that these days it's just one bad thing after another in Indonesia. How terrible must this place be to actually live in? How on earth do people manage to live there?
   
   It's easy for the outside world to get a distorted view of life somewhere, when all that seems to come from there is bad news. But these are just events, little blips that get reported along the way. It's in the moments between these events where the real picture lies, where day-to-day life goes on, apparently as normal.
   
   If you want to stand any chance of knowing Indonesia at all, you'll need to be there at ground level, with it whizzing all around you.Towering well over 1.83m tall, my co-authoring friend Terry Collins is definitely at ground level. In this reworked version of CultureShock! Jakarta, Terry brings our picture of Jakarta bang up to date.
   
   With 20 years of Jakarta living under his belt, he is well qualified in shifting the story forward. And, crucially, he still has enthusiaism for the Jakarta life. He may of course completely deny this, but it's this very enthusiasm that has helped paint this much fuller picture of the city, and one too that helps guide us through the often confusing decade of change (or non-change) since President Suharto made his dramatic exit in 1998.
   
   So here then is Jakarta today. It's big. It's frustrating. It really is a monster. Don't say we didn't warn you.



2. I have been waiting for this book to come out for a few months!
   
   I wish it was available when we first arrived in Jakarta.
   
   This book is a very comprehensive guide to life in Jakarta, it should be compulsory for all new expatriates as it makes life so much easier when you understand whats going on around you. Even after living here for nearly 12 months I learnt a lot.
   
   The book was originally authored by Derek Bacon nearly 10 years ago and has just been thoroughly revised and updated by a renown Jakarta Blogger, Jakartass.
   
   Some of the topics covered:-
   
   * First impressions
   * History, Geography and Politics
   * Fitting into society
   * Settling in
   * Food and entertainment
   * Culture and travel
   * Communicating in Jakarta
   * Doing business
   * Fast facts
   
   I was very impressed with this book and hope you will be too.



3. Culture Shock! is the only must-read book on how to survive the confusing "monster" named Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Being born and raised there, Jakarta hasn't stopped surprising me to this very day, especially since I no longer reside there in the last decade.
   
   This revised version is more comprehensive and up-to-date, as the co-author Terry Collins is, undoubtedly, superbly skillful in describing and explaining how Jakarta has evolved and will continue to evolve as one of the most unique places on the planet. Overall, it is a great book to read and keep on your bookshelf. Suitable for those who intend to visit Jakarta for pleasure or business for a few days, weeks, months, or even years.



4. I loved the book! I'm going to go live in Indonesia, possibly Jakarta, and the book gives all the tips you would want to know. I would buy this series for any new place that I want to live. It goes over everything from how to pick a house to weather patterns. It give a great description of what the people are like and how they think. A must buy for anyone moving to Indonesia. Priceless information that would take years to learn on your own.



5. I am not quite sure why I bought this book!
   
   Maybe it was to make sure that the authors (Terry Collins and Derek Bacon) get at least some royalties for their efforts or perhaps the more likely excuse is that I needed to see whether my experiences were the same or similar to others. Then again maybe I bought the book because I just wanted to criticize the characterization or stereotyping of what it is like for us white folk living in Indonesia and particularly Jakarta!
   
   The book set me back some IDR 163,000 from Kinokuniya in Plaza Indonesia. I was in Kinokuniya to buy a cross-stitch magazine for my better half and I happened to see the book and thought, why not? So, I whacked it on the counter and I now have my very own copy!
   
   You might be wondering why a bloke who has spent so long in Jakarta wants to read anything to do with Culture Shock. Well, even after all this time living in Indonesia I am still "hey Mister" and perhaps this is both the beauty and the beast that is Jakarta; no matter how long you might have lived here and no matter how much you have integrated into society, you will never get away from being "Hey Mister!"
   
   The book is well written (at least for my mind) and I found myself smiling and chuckling to myself as I read through it. It is surprising how much of the experience is common and how much we tend to forget of what has happened. It was nice to read and remember some of those long forgotten experiences that were jogged back into the more conscious memory!
   
   I know one of the authors (Terry Collins) and perhaps I should make this as a disclaimer. Nevertheless, those of you that know me would know that I pull no punches. If I thought the book was garbage I would say so in not such an eloquent way! Yet, the book, I have found has been worth the money I outlaid for it, if for no other reason than it reminded me of moments that I have enjoyed during my stay.
   
   Funnily enough most people are reporting that they are not finding this book in the arrival halls to Jakarta but rather in the departure shopping areas. I guess this might afford those on their way out of Jakarta a chance to buy the book for the purposes of answering this question: "what the hell just happened to me?"
   
   I would have thought though that the best spot for this would be in the departure lounges of foreign locales and the arrival lounges of points of entry into Indonesia...but I guess this is why I studied law and not marketing!
   
   But for anyone interested in learning the "ins and outs" of the Jakarta experience then this is perhaps the book for you. The book contains sections on the history and politics of Jakarta, settling in for those of you who might want to be more than tourists, visa and immigration information, business information, food and entertaining, fitting in, and communicating, among a number of others.
   
   I think the most valuable learning tools in the book are the short glossary at the end, the culture quiz, and the "do's and don'ts" section.
   
   So, go out and buy the book as it might just help you understand the experience you are about to have or the experience that you have just had!

5 comments about In the Empire of Genghis Khan: An Amazing Odyssey Through the Lands of the Most Feared Conquerors in History.

1. a joy to read... a man who captivates language .... GREAT and fun book.....



2. I couldn't put this book down, i'll give it that much.
   But I didn't always like it.
   
   While the narration was interesting and fairly well written, I felt a rather pretentious, and quite condescending air as he described the mongolians he met and the way in which they lived.
   
   The descriptions of the landscape were beautiful, but it didn't hide the fact that I felt Stewart was narrating a 4 star resort tour of the country instead of what was supposed to be a wilderness trek.
   
   None the less, I found it hard to put it down, maybe because the historial bits were so intruiging.



3. I am amazed by Mr. Stewarts ability to write. He can convey the emotions and feeling of a place with amazing clarity and I found myself really feeling like I was there.
   
   The trip itself is quite an epic, a thousand miles by mostly horseback through a culture completely different than anything we are used to. it also comes at a really interesting time in the countries history when they have thrown off Communism and are deep in the throws of trying to make something else work.
   
   At its best the book is full of delightful descriptions of faraway places and unique locations, the people are described so well that you can picture them sitting next to you and their conversations relate items of real significance. Learning from the people what the fall of Communism has done to their economy makes for fascinating reading. Also learning about the history of the Monks and the world of Genghis Khan was fascinating.
   
   At its worst, the book doesn't cut the Mongolian people very much slack. They have decided not to live in cities but rather to live in tents (gers), rather than celebrate a thousand-year-old tradition and show what good it brings and how it enriches the lives of the people who live it, mostly you get the feeling that it is inferior and the people who live it ought to switch to something better.
   
   It also portrays Communism and the Russian government in a completely evil light, no effort is made to record areas where the life of the Mongolian has gotten better thanks to Communism, although brief mention of government bldgs, schools and acting troups is mentioned. Yet how poorly the people fared and when the system didn't work is vividly brought out into the open.
   
   This is also about travelling over some of the most lonely isolated terrain in the world, yet little time is spent discussing the travel itself. How did they get food when they were not in a Ger, what did it feel like to spend weeks in the saddle from morning to night, How did the clothing feel, etc. Very little was spent on the actual travel itself, the book focuses primarily on the people that were met.
   
   But these are minor points, its is a good book to learn about the culture of Mongolia and what has been happening to the common man since the fall of Communism and I found myself reading all the way through without being bored.



4. I picked this book up browsing in my hospital bookshop while on call on a lazy saturday. On the back cover I discovered it had been recently translated into Italian (2004)from English and decided to buy it. From the moment I opened it, I couldn't put it down, I read it on work, at home, and also while driving the car (!). I laughed by myself on more than one occasion and looked around for someone to laugh with me. Naturally, I will probably never go to Mongolia, or have the guts to take the trip the author went through, but, somehow I felt that I was there. That I met the people he describes.
   
   One interesting point of the book is its inspiration from the trip of William of Rubruc eight centuries ago. This short miliary description of the mongol world of those times has the same off hand descriptions of the mongol people and customs we find in Mr. Stewart's book. However, no one accused William of beeing "politically not correct" or "sarcastic". Often it is not necessary to have an empathic vision of a different culture to describe it to people that share our cultural standards.
   
   Mr. Stewart's book is instructive and definitely fun to read, but above all it "takes you along" the whole time, which is really what readers that don't have the opportunities to travel as much as they would like, really want.



5. I've always been intrigued by the Mongols, as they are at the edge between settled and nomadic people. And I've also always like travel writing. Stanely Stewart's book therefore made me very happy. It is beautifully written and the research is thorough. I learned about the Secret History of the Mongols in one section and in another found one of my favorite senteces in any book. I do not have my copy with me, but the sentece included truck repair, camels, and Uzbeks.
   
   Mr. Stewarts book is too good to be called a travel memoir and to lively to be called a history book. It is one of the most entertaining and informative books I have read.