4 comments about Staying Healthy in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

1. I found this book to be very informative. It showed the vaccines that you should get but not only that. It told about the bugs and "creepy crawlies" that you should stay away from in your particular country you are going to. It told of the plants that are poisonous and to stay away from there water unless you have a purifier. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is goind to a third world country!



2. I have travelled and lived all over the world and I always have this book with me. Not only does it cover how to protect yourself, but if you do get sick it helps you to get better. I love that it includes different drugs for you to take for different bugs, and it tells you the exact dosage. This comes in handy when you are living in the bush in Africa, no doctor for hundreds of miles, but a well stocked pharmacy near by. I HIGLY recomend this book or anyone planning to travel or live overseas.



3. I bought a book back in 1992. Used it for travels to Asia and Afrika. Handy size can always fit your backpack, no matter how light you must pack. I used it for rough trips, as well as for trips around Europe with kids. The book covers all essential aspects that you will need for your travel: (i) which vaccinations to take before you go and what to pack, (ii) what precautions to take to stay fit and healthy, (iii) what to do in case you get sick and (iv) what is the bottom line when you really need to stop being your own doctor and need to find a physician. The book is well structured and you find in a second the topic you are looking for. I strongly recomend the book to travelers who are serious about staying healthy.



4. this book is a must have, for a person who's traveling in a 3rd world country and even more so, if you are not a doctor or nurse.
   
   its easy to read, small and compact enough to bring along and has tons of great info.
   
   HIGHLY RECOMMEDED!

5 comments about River of Colour the India of Raghubir Singh.

1. India is a difficult country to understand and even more difficult to explain, in words or pictures! Rughubir Singh has captured the chaos of India which take you right into the bylanes of Varanasi/Banaras. This is my favourite(infact the only picture book) gift to a lot of my western friends, most of whom have visited India before. The pictures are simply too powerful. If you have any facination for that land, you cant afford not to have a look at Mr. Singh's pictures.



2. I first bought this book in its paperback edition... I was so taken by the photographs that on learning that Phaidon was re-releasing the book, I gave my pbk copy to an Indian friend of mine (who loves it, as it reminds him of home). Looking forward to the re-release of this book, I was eagerly looking for it to become available.
   
   The re-release arrived just the other day. I can say that the photos are just as moving, heart-melting, and colorful as the original copy. HOWEVER, Amazon's "shrink-wraping process" ruined the cover of the book, and many of the pages of the book.
   
   So, I paid full Amazon price for the book, but were I to try to re-sell it, it would be "damaged."
   
   To say that I'm a little piss#d is an understatement.
   
   It _is_ a beautiful book, with a wonderful overview of Singh's work - my favorites are the boys diving from the tops of submerged temples on a flooded Ganges, and a pic of a muscician from Tamil Nadu...
   
   I just wish the condition of the book were better.



3. Raghubir Singh was born in India and began his photography career in 1965 - but until this collection, very few of his works reached audiences outside the country. RIVER OF COLOUR: THE INDIA OF RAGHUBIR SINGH uses a wide-angle panoramic layout which will prove a shelving challenge to most art library collections - but a delight to any who seek fine display materials. It's the only retrospective of Singh's works and by choosing an elongated, oversized display format, the color photos of Indian topics come to life and nearly spring off the page. RIVER OF COLOUR is recommended not just for art photography libraries, but for any collection strong on India history or culture.



4. Raghubir Singh's River of Colour is a book that beautiful in many ways. Not only was he a very talented photographer, he also brings out a tremendous sense of patriotism with his book. His photographs capture the essence of Indian culture.



5. I was given this book (softcover edition) by a friend some years ago, and it has resonated with me as one of the finest compilations of documentary photography on India. Raghubir Singh's photograph captures moments in the lives of ordinary Indians, in a way that is without a doubt timeless. This book is a collection of his best works from his many years of photography in India and it's simply a marvel, especially for anyone who has a special interest in India or comes from India, who can really appreciate the imagery.
   
   I hands down recommend this book to anyone and everyone and always show it off to friends. Try and get some of his other works as well - Bombay, The Grand Trunk Road, Kerala, Banares, Kashmir, if you can find them. You will be equally impressed.

No comments about Travellers Jordan (Travellers - Thomas Cook).

1 comments about The Ganges.

1. The Ganges is the fascinating and informative personal story of one man's pilgrimage along the famous and revered river Ganges, ranging from it's sources in the Himalaya mountains to its ultimate destination in the Bay of Bengal. 123 impressive, unforgettable color photographs enhance a deeply engaging text by contemporary photographer Raghubir Singh. Both image and commentary blend to document Singh's undeniable eye for detail, and fill the 192-pages this remarkable travelogue and memorable tribute to a timeless and sacred river.

No comments about Etiquette Guide to Japan: Know the Rules that Make the Difference!.

No comments about Kyrgyzstan (Odyssey Illustrated Guides).

No comments about Intimate Seasons.

3 comments about The Ministry of Truth: Kim Jong-Il's North Korea.

1. While attending the 9th International Pyongyang Film Festival in 2004, writer Christian Kracht and photographers Eva Munz and Lukas Nikol were granted extraordinary leeway to see a different side of North Korea. The Ministry of Truth reproduces their journey to an unseen side of the North Korean peninsula, something beyond the standard CNN-issued footage of military parades and nuclear facilities. Kracht's preface wrily points out the paranoia and anxiety that forms the basis of the Western media's impressions of the country as he elegantly weaves together an essay on the seemingly disparate absurdism of Neo-con thought and Kimgjongilism. If you are looking for an "out-of-the-box" postmodernist take on the 21st century Hermit Kingdom, then buy this book!



2. The photographs in "The Ministry of Truth" came back to haunt me long after I put the book down. Humans appear in the photographs, but we never connect. The public places seem empty of people and activity, but filled with the ghosts of...what, I just don't know. There is a quiet elegance to this collection of photographs, we are seeing things we don't really feel we have the permission to see, and then it's puncuated by a jolt of humanity, a smile, a human face caught off guard. We are looking at propaganda...its grand and its humble all at the same time.
   
   The cool distance of the photographs gives us a feeling of and anthropological study: here are the places, here are the things, here is what it looks like in this mysterious land. This distance allows us to decide for ourselves, look at things objectively, and come to peace with it all.
   
   After all that, this is a great book. Accessible to everyone interested in history, photography, and the things unseen.



3. The cult-of-personality-land seems to be getting an invigorating showing these days. This is the fourth book of photos to be released in the last two years and though they might have North Korea in the title it is mostly photos of Pyongyang that always predominate. The Ministry of Truth follows this pattern with just under a hundred photos and some posters.
   
   It is unfortunate that what is on show is of such poor quality. So many are soft focus, grey, badly composed and lacking in any creativity to really show anything of this odd country. I wonder if many of the shots were snapped while the minders were looking elsewhere? The authors also, annoyingly, take an easy out by not writing any captions but supply the dotty thoughts of the Dear Leader to go with some photos on many spreads. The uninspiring layout doesn't help either.
   
   Far better I think to go for Philippe Chancel's excellent North Korea with 129 photos that show the extent of the totalitarian regime in dazzling color
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

2 comments about Resorts of Maldives (Guidebook Format).

1. An incredibly good book!If you like who-done-it mysteries,you'll like this.It's got a lot of suspense and i would recomend it to anybody.



2. The book gives detailed info on diving, dining, stay and all other points of interest as the author himself has stayed in every resort he is writing about. Especially for Maldives when choosing the resort is the focal point of the vacation planning and the resort stay is THE vacation this book is indispensable. I had to get mine from Maldives airport as it is hardly available otherwise.

5 comments about Himalaya: Personal Stories of Grandeur, Challenge, and Hope.

1. This book would be worth buying for the photographs alone. There are well over 100 of them and nearly every one (as is appropriate for a National Geographic Society book) is of salon quality. But you shouldn't just look at the pictures. They are accompanied by 40 short pieces by a wide variety of people, each with a story to tell, either of how their life has been changed by their Himalayan experience, or how what they do is changing the life there. These are by leading Himalayan authorities in the climbing world (today's and yesterday's),in conservation, research, art restoration, human rights, development, and Buddhism. Among the authors are a former American president (Jimmy Carter) and a current US senator (Diane Feinstein), as well as leading Buddhist figures (including the Dalai Lama, who wrote one of the three introductory essays). You don't have to read all of these essays and yet, as you leaf through the book, you may find yourself doing just that. For one thing, they are short - two to three pages each. For another, these are personal stories, which means that in each case, the author connects himself with the subject he is describing, giving it an immediacy that it might otherwise lack. And for still another, they are talking about really interesting things - things like the region's problems, its wildlife, its earthquakes, its politics (a little bit), and - of course - their own experience there. The book has been produced by the National Geographic Society with the American Himalayan Foundation, and many of that organization's projects have been described. It is introduced by Richard Blum, who is its head and (with Erica Stone and Broughton Coburn) one of the book's three editors. He quotes the instructions of Lama Govinda, a 20th century holy man, on how to see a mountain: "To see the greatness of a mountain, one must keep one's distance. To understand its form, one must move around it. To experience the moods, one must see it at sunrise and sunset, at noon and at midnight, in sun and in rain, in snow and in storm, in summer and in winter and in all other seasons. He who can see the mountain like this comes near to the life of the mountain, a life that is as intense and varied as that of a human being."
   
   If you are not in a position to do all this for the Himalaya, just read this book. It will get you close to an intense and varied experience of the world's most famous mountains and the people who live among them.



2. My Himalayan book shelf and coffee tables already groan, but I ordered this National Geographic beauty immediately. All at once I was reminded of the depth of love and anxiety I have about these young mountains and these very old people. I learned a lot, even considering that I'm privileged to spend at least a month in Nepal and nearby countries once a year over the last decade. Photographs of masters, spiritual seekers, and people lovers lead the way to understanding the powerful impact of just being in the magic presence of the peaks. They soar beyond the clouds; the people strive for spiritual peaks and life goals too. In editing a series of short contemporary, highly relevant, but personal articles, Richard Blum, Erica Stone, and Brot Coburn show readers what can be seen and what can be done to reach out to help ease burdens there. Mountaineers, trekkers, and couch climbers, helpers and those looking for a cause, travelers, pilgrims, and all of us seeking greater human understanding will relish the guiding words of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, Sir Edmund and Peter Hillary, and Lodi Gyalsten Gyari. Everyone who loves the Himalayas or wants to get to know them MUST HAVE this well rounded easy to read, glorious to see, summary of current times in and under the mountains of the Gods.
   Joyce Tapper
   Los Angeles



3. This is a wonderful essay book with stunning photography. The essays are from a diverse group - from world leaders to refugees, to mountain climbing legends. Together they tell the story of the Himalayas - its beauty, its culture, its challenges and the hope that so many people help to bring to this part of the world. I gave this book as a gift to many people for the holidays and everyone has mentioned to me that they have enjoyed reading it and it is often a conversation piece when people see it on the coffee table. I recommend it highly.



4. This is a wonderful book for anyone who loves the great places of the world like the Himalaya. This is a great collection of stories by people who have fallen in love with the region, the people and the mountains. The basis for the book is to protect places, cultures and the people of an endangered region. A must have book for your collection.



5. Himalaya is a collection of essays and photographs depicting the Himalayan peaks, the people living in the shadows of these peaks, and the needs and plights of these people. All the contributors have been very closely linked with the Himalayas. These include monks and native hillmen who were either born and brought up there, and then were typically forced to seek asylum in other countries, hardy mountaineers like Jim Whittaker, Ian Baker and the Hillary father and son pair, and famed Himalayaholics like Stan Armington and Matthieu Ricard.
   
   The book invokes strong nostalgia if you have been to the Himalayas before, and wonderstruck awe if you haven't been there. Through the three sections titled Grandeur, Challenge and Hope, you will find yourself in a world of simple hard-working villagers, troubled by malicious forces beyond their powers, and in a world of wild blue sheep, fat and honest eyed yaks, and majestic snow leopards. Pioneering climbers describe how they realized their dreams of climbing the loftiest peaks in the Himalayas, and how these ascents turned them into altogether different humans. We get interesting accounts from famous wildlife conservationists as to what made them turn to the Himalayas, and how have they been carrying out their efforts in these extreme terrains for decades.
   
   Many of the tales point out that the Himalayas are different from other mountain ranges not just because of their stupendous heights, but also due to the simplicity and genuineness of the people who have been living in its valleys and snow-covered meadows for thousands of years. Some of the views in the book are so orthodox that you might laugh them off at first, for instance, consider opposition to building roads in undeveloped regions in the mountains. But authors like Jigme Bista will explain to you that how development comes at the hefty cost of cultural degradation and decay of environmental harmony.
   
   Frankly, a few of the essays focus entirely on Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan's educational needs or on healthcare issues. Indeed these are important and relevant, and are connected with the central theme of the book, but some essays sadly do feel like space-filling digressions. Related to this is the shortcoming that the book makes Himalayas sound synonymous to the Nepal and Tibet Himalayas. Almost no mention is made of the high deserts of Ladakh Himalayas or of the vast Garhwal Himalayas.
   
   The lack of an index in such a hefty volume is also conspicuous. The book is no doubt a good collection of essays and photographs, but somehow fails to be up to the perfectionist standards of the National Geographic Society.
   
   Nevertheless, the thought which would linger in your mind for long after you finish this beautiful book, is the justifiability of human imposed geographical boundaries, if such boundaries have led to millions of torturous deaths over the years.
   
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