No comments about Pan-Africanism Caribbean Connections.

No comments about Cuba Insight Flexi Map (Fleximap).

2 comments about Cuba: The Land and People.

1. This book falls well short of its title's promise. The photographs give a fairly limited view of life in Cuba, and the accompanying captions (there is no additional text) add little to the reader's understanding of "the land and the people." The reason for this failure becomes apparent in the author's introduction, in which he acknowledges that he speaks little Spanish (and therefore was unable to communicate with most of the people he encountered), and the only experience he has with the country is the few trips he took to take his photographs.

   Moreover, many of the photographs are unremarkable -- they look more like typical snapshots any tourist might take, rather than
   the work of a professional photographer.

   This book is of little use to anyone seeking to develop a greater understanding of Cuban life and culture, and has little value as an "art" book. In all, a must miss.




2. This book delivers what it promises, a photographic record of the island without getting involved in political statements. Beautifully illustrated throughout, I found myself taking a visual trip of a land that I left a long time ago.

No comments about Packaged Vacations: Tourism Development in the Spanish Caribbean.

2 comments about Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Cuba (Diving & Snorkeling Guides).

1. The first thing that struck me when a copy of this book arrived through my letterbox was how thin it was. This is a paper-back book measuring 9" x 6" (23cm x 15 cm) containing 92 pages. With 20 of those pages taken up with such information as; Title of the book (again), publisher's information, contents, acknowledgements, how to use the book, overview (history) of Cuba, geography, transportation, sightseeing, entertainment, index, etc, etc, there is precious little room left for the diving information - for which we purchased the book in the first place.
   
   For much of the content we are then treated to one specific dive site per page each of which is headed with the following information; Typical depth range, Typical current condition, Expertise required, Access, Site No. After this we are treated to a short dialogue which, in many cases, fails to describe the site adequately and in some cases is exceedingly short. And the shorter the dialogue, the bigger the picture which takes up the rest of the page.
   
   Of course the underwater pictures are all of typical Caribbean flora and fauna and the many species of available are almost all mentioned (somewhere!) in order to pad out the text.
   
   In short, could have done much better!
   
   NM



2. I agree with NM's review. This book is a complete waste of time and money. You can get more useful information talking to your local diveshop or dive travel agent. Over a third of the book gives very general tourist information that you can get from any guide to Cuba. At the back, there are the usual pages of Carribean Fish ID and some more padding.

   I expected a thorough guide to most if not all, diving sites in Cuba. I have bought other books in this series (Thailand & Belize) and have found them extremely helpful and informative. This book on Cuba is severely lacking in any useful diving information.

   For example under the Cayo Largo section, the author writes "Cayo Largo has around 30 sites. 3 described below...." What about the rest? The state-owned Puerto Sol diving centers around Cuba are extremely friendly & helpful and each one has a huge board with a geograpically correct map showing all the dive sites in the surrounding area. Would it be that much effort to even photograph those maps and add them to the book?

1 comments about Cuba.

1. Cuba fascinates me, and I plan to visit sometime soon, during a summer vacation from college. I bought this book cheap from Daedalus: don't pay full price from Amazon. The book is amazing. Ignoring the pretentious essay at the beginning, the large photos compliment the mysterious aura surrounding Cuba. Appropriate quotations from diplomats and poets accompany them. At times, Kohli can be intrusive with his input, but I have never seen pictures that are more gorgeous. His subject is human mostly, often focusing on certain body parts, but his landscapes are unique and beautiful.

No comments about Travellers Caribbean Cruising, 3rd: Guides to destinations worldwide (Travellers - Thomas Cook).

5 comments about Golf Digest's Places to Play, 5th Edition: The Latest Player Ratings of More Than 6,500 Public and Resort Courses in the USA, Canada, Mexico, and the Islands (Special-Interest Titles).

1. A great book which allows you to book tee times all over the U.S. Information is correct and reviews are interesting. Reviews seem to be very accurate in the courses I have played. A book a true golfer cannot survive without.



2. This is a truly excellent guide. I would recommend this to any golfer wanting to try new tracks. Having taken up golf again six months ago and having just moved to Oklahoma from Mass. I needed a solid review book to begin exploring my local environs. This book has come up trumps again and again - providing an accurate overview of courses in my area, throughout the rest of the state, and all over the country. I wouldn't agree with every course review but that is part of the fun, and course conditions and upkeep can change in a short period so it would be churlish to nit-pick. Thanks to this sterling guide (my only complaint - some of the distances form major cities are off) I've played some great courses I would never have come across. Indispensable and superior, by a long, long way, to anything else out there. Bravo Golf Digest!



3. First let me state the obvious: All praise you have heard about this volume is merited. It is truly the "don't leave home without it" golfers' equivalent. Its scope is comprehensive, its selection of comments concise and illustrative. Now for the bad part. From the last edition to this it seems as if all the courses have improved a half-star. Having found the previous ratings dead-on, I was stupefied by the number of "solid" courses being awarded four stars, which in the editor's judgment stands for "Plan your next vacation around it." Sorry, but the ratings are far too liberal this go around.

   Still this book is most impressive for its geographic consistency. Thinking that a course deep in the heart of nowhere can't possibly be examined accurately? Think again. The reviews are always accurate. The negative comments are soft-pedaled, but they are there and after awhile you can discern them quite easily.

   If you have golf wanderlust, you'll become quite attached to this book.




4. First let me state the obvious: All praise you have heard about this volume is merited. It is truly the "don't leave home without it" golfers' equivalent. Its scope is comprehensive, its selection of comments concise and illustrative. Now for the bad part. From the last edition to this it seems as if all the courses have improved a half-star. Having found the previous ratings dead-on, I was stupefied by the number of "solid" courses being awarded four stars, which in the editor's judgment stands for "Plan your next vacation around it." Sorry, but the ratings are far too liberal this go around.

   Still this book is most impressive for its geographic consistency. Thinking that a course deep in the heart of nowhere can't possibly be examined accurately? Think again. The reviews are always accurate. The negative comments are soft-pedaled, but they are there and after awhile you can discern them quite easily.

   If you have golf wanderlust, you'll become quite attached to this book.




5. Compehensive unbiased very helpful guide.MAJOR drawback is next to useless listing by state rather than by city or metropolitan area. Who cares about courses in San Francisco if you're vacationing in Palm Springs!

No comments about Spanish in Plain English: The 5,001 Easiest Words You'll Ever Learn in Spanish (You Already Know).

No comments about All the best in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, (A Sydney Clark travel book).