No comments about The Rough Guide to Provence and the Cote d'Azur 6 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

No comments about The Rough Guide to Devon and Cornwall 3 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1 comments about England and Wales Map by ITMB.

1. We bought this map to plan and execute a recent driving trip around England and Wales, to supplement another map of southeastern England we had used before. The England and Wales map provided the big picture we needed for planning purposes (the trip ranged from Southampton to Gatwick to north Wales back to Heathrow), and also gave the roads and identification we needed while actually driving. All roads we needed seemed to appear on the map, labelled about as well as one would expect for the UK--except for the really minor roads. The map was fairly easy to fold into a shape that worked for a day at a time, and was, to us, preferable to a book of maps which requires constant page flipping. The only issue we had was that our destination in north Wales was actually on the reverse side of the map; enough of the map was duplicated on that side to allow for manageable refolding as we got closer. We couldn't have managed without this map, and will undoubtedly use it again. (Note that although some major attractions are indicated on this map, it does not pretend to be a guide book; you'll still need one of those.)

1 comments about Munich Map (City Map) by Cartographia (City Map).

1. Best map of Munich I've found so far. Need the environs, and this map has just sufficient.

3 comments about The Journey Through Wales and The Description of Wales (Penguin Classics).

1. If I was writing a book set in Medieval Wales, I would not be without this book. Descriptions of the country and its people are given, as are extensive biographies of many of the famous rulers and clergymen of the day. On the other hand, it isn't the easiest reading. The material is easy to comprehend, but at times the text itself is dry.



2. Giraldus Cambrensis was a curmudgeon with a vivid imagination. He has an eye for detail and an ear for a good story. As such, his works combine many different elements -- travelogue, miracle tales, slander, complaints, and puffed-up pride. I love him for all this; Gerald is a very real person, warts and all.

   This book serves as a great introduction to medieval writing in many ways. First of all, it is relatively short and is full chapers. Each one could be read in connection with the others or solo. One chapter might be about the lay of the land. The next might have to do with a miraculous lake of birds. The next might include scurulous reports about cannibalism. This book, then, is not a history book, not a religious book, not a travelogue, but instead the notes and jottings of a mind interested in many topics. While a lot of the writing speaks of God, Christ and miracles, not all of it does -- this will help give a general reader a broader understanding of the medieval world-view.

   Give him a try. You might find the Middle Ages a truly engaging time, a time when people, then as now, were people.




3. 
   First, I want to say thank you, wherever he is today, to Mr. Jones, himself a Welsh patriot, for recommending this book to me nine years ago. What these two books (collected in one volume) are is an invaluable resource that takes a reader on a village-by-village, region-by-region tour of 12th century Wales. Gerald, a Benedictine monk in royal service, had a scholarly eye and a novelist's touch in describing what he encountered on his trips thru the westernmost nation on the island of Britain. Gerald tells of a Wales still independent from England, still Celtic and very much a fiercely independent state in its own right. He describes the hair styles, clothing, dining preferences, architecture, religious and historical sites (including a legend of the burial place of one King Arthur) and does it in a way that never loses the spark of immediacy, even for those of us centuries in Gerald's future. This book reads a lot like a piece from National Geographic, only it's nine-hundred years old! Without Gerald, we never would get to meet so many interesting human beings who once lived out lives in a time and place far removed from where we dwell today. This descriptive memoir is an improbable survivor, and a treasure in the collective library of the human race.

1 comments about New Worlds: The Great Voyages of Discovery 1400-1600.

1. "New Worlds" is an unbelievably great book! After reading the recent "Rivers of Gold", I started to look for an up to date overview of the age of discovery. I was especially interested in events prior to the voyages of Columbus and the role of Portugal.
   
   Dr. Fritze offers a balanced and detailed overview that includes Portuguese contributions. But the book goes much farther. It details the European knowledge and mindset prior to exploration. It covers politics, trade, technology and other factors crucial to setting the stage for exploration. The book is lavishly illustrated. It has great charts and maps.
   
   "New Worlds" is the best history book I have read since "Guns, Germs and Steel." It may be better.
   
   Despite searches on Amazon and web searches, I could not find a book remotely covering the age of exploration. "New Worlds" is on Amazon... but it is like finding a needle in a haystack. Luckily I stumbled across "New World's" at the Stanford bookstore.
   
   My kudos to the author. I hope your publisher will find better ways to get the word out. (I'm shocked how clueless they must be about web marketing.)

1 comments about Brittany (EYEWITNESS TRAVEL GUIDE).

1. The premise of this travel book is that they focus on providing a lot of visual content for people who are more visual learners. But if I was relying on this for my only source of information about Brittany, I would be quite frustrated, as it is very difficult to find anything in this book (versus my Lonely Planet book). A nice book to purchase as a supplement, but don't rely on it as your primary destination guide.

No comments about Access Florence & Venice 8e (Access Guides).

No comments about Spain...A Culinary Road Trip.

1 comments about Transylvania.

1. this is a beautiful book - wonderful text and stories - not just lovely photos. Good stories about very specific people and groups.