5 comments about Michelin Battle of Normandy Map No.102.

1. Excellent. I consider myself a World War II in Europe "fan", try to read all the books I can. This has certainly made many of them more meaningful since I can now pinpoint locations in them. Read about this map when Time published their 60 yr anniversary of D-day issue. Tom Hanks mentioned it, but I hadn't been able to find it. Googled, and there it was. Amazon came through again.



2. This map is a valuable companion to any book on Operation Overlord and the follow on operations in Normandy. It allows the reader to maintain geographical awareness when reading of the military operations taking place in various locations.



3. very interesting purchase. its actually a map you used to get in gas stations. shows where bunkers are & VERY detailed road, towns, & terain. not much on where battles fought & also from 1947. there are probably lots of changes to map now, but still for the money i like it.



4. Very well done. Plan to use this map for a trip to Normandy and find battle sites from D-Day.



5. I purchased Michelin Battle of Normandy Map No.102 to help us guide ourselves around Normandy this spring while looking for war ruins such as bunkers, and memorials and cemetaries. The map is very detailed and was excellent for planning the trip before arriving in France. However, after driving in Normandy, I was startled that I could actually depend on this map for navigation! Even though it is a map from the 40's, many things have not changed in Normandy! While some cemetaries that were identified on the maps are no longer US cemetaries (for example, we exhumed our dead from a current German cemetary and reburied them in the US cemetary near Omaha beach), practically every other feature identified on the map is accurate. These include the memorial markers, gun batteries, parachute drop zones and even the towns which had a lot of battle damage. The road numbers are the mostly the same so it's easy to get around by using this map. If you're touring Normandy you will be very happy you brought this map with you and used it. It's also readily available in many museums in the area.

5 comments about Norway (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

1. No one travel book can hope to capture all that might be useful or interesting to know about Norway, but the Eyewitness Travel Guide to Norway may come closest. Compact and portable, the guides are packed with information. Supplemented with some local maps, this guide may be sufficient for most visitors' needs.
   
   The Norway Eyewitness Travel Guide includes maps, photographs, diagrams, and a variety of other graphics, in addition to narrative, to describe Norway as a travel experience. The introduction provides a sense of Norway in terms of its geography, people, and history. Breakdowns follow by region which include the principal attractions. Especially useful are the maps and diagrams of some of the most popular locations, such as the Vigeland Sculpture Park and the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. Other sections cover how to get to Norway and how to get around within what is a surprisingly large country. The guide includes information on accomodations, a shopping guide, and basic survival facts for the traveler. As always, the inclusion of a wealth of photographs provides a sense of place and scale for Norway, and will help the traveler make some choices in what to see and do.
   
   This guide is highly recommended to the traveler planning a vacation in Norway. Some careful study will help ensure a wonderful vacation in a beautiful country.



2. I really like this book. I have many of the DK Eyewitness books, and they are all very good.
   Norway" as well as other DK's have wonderful maps, beautiful pictures and valuable information.



3. If you are planning a trip to Norway this book is a must have. It clearly outlines the whole country and does an excellent job with Oslo. There is so much to see and even if you are just doing a cruise of the country this is still worth buying. At the time I was only going to Oslo but on my second trip back I toured the rest of the country and this book was useful on both occasions. While it would be nice if DK made an Oslo book this one will be great in the meantime.



4. I ordered this book as we are going to Norway next month. Although the photos were beautiful and the history very interesting, I found it short on factual information. I later picked up Frommer's guide which I found to be much more useful, particularly with regard to daytrips, tours, directions.



5. Let me preface this by saying that normally we love the EyeWitness guides, and they are our default choice when it comes to travel guides. Unfortunately, the standard style of the EyeWitness guide breaks down when it comes to covering the entire country of Norway. While this book makes a great overview and introduction to the land and its culture, it doesn't serve as much of a guide once you're there.
   
   One of the big selling points of EyeWitness books is their beautiful hand-drawn maps. Usually these cover interesting neighborhoods, parks, etc. In the Norway book, they use the same system to cover vast regions of the country. Since the advantage of these maps in the other books is the detail, the idea breaks down in such a large scale where they actually end up with less detail (only main roads and towns appear). The illustrating is filled in with uninspiring clip art of animals and rural life, and the maps are nearly useless aside from a general overview.
   
   The beautiful full-color photographs are still there, which admittedly do help us choose and get excited about some of the things we choose to see. And these also make the books a great gift or souvenir. A few sights like the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim do lend themselves to EyeWitness's trademark cut-away visual illustration, but the number of these is very small.
   
   We've owned this book for over a year, and I've been reluctant to write a review until I've given it a fair shot. We've now traveled to quite a few places in Norway, and we found that in all but Oslo and Bergen this book was virtually useless. Oslo and Bergen have enough museums to flesh out the city listings, but the big draw in the rest of the country is the nature and scenery. The important information is less about exhibits and opening hours, and more about how to get around and where to find the most scenic vantage points.
   
   While I've yet to find a truly great guidebook for Norway, we have had better luck with Lonely Planet Norway. In most cases, we've carried both, and even when something interesting appears in the EyeWitness, we counted on the town maps in Lonely Planet to get us there.

5 comments about Old Glory : A Voyage Down the Mississippi.

1. Um, fellow reviewers, do you think that every little town in America is a picture postcard? Or do you not think there is a dark side to life in London, New York, or in any little burg one might chance upon, say, going down the Mississippi? Do you think that people don't have a disgruntled, distrustful side as well as a kind, generous side? Would you, in short, prefer a chintzy Hallmark postcard to a well-penned, thoughtful, erudite travel book, such as this?--If so, why did you bother reading or reviewing it?
   
   As Raban remarks to one of his inquisitors, he in not a journalist and this book is about him and his impressions on his, brave or quixotic, depending on how you view it, travel down the Mississippi inspired by dreams of it since a boyhood reading of Mark Twain.
   
   Yes, some of it is sad and melancholy. But often it is laugh-out-loud funny at the author's expense as much as at the expense of any of the people he meets. It is often very bracing and generous; and erudite, like all of Raban's writings.
   
   As a refutation to all the nay-sayers, please cast your eye on the last page of Chapter 10 where he opens the note from the tow captain he has been accompanying:
   
   "I opened it ten minutes later and read it by the light of a city streetlamp, with the paper dimpling in the warm rain.
   
   "I know very little
   of writers, but people
   I do no. You are a
   Good man to ride
   The River with, Jonathan Ravan
   Bob Kelley
   Master M/v Jimmie L.
   Dec. 7, 1979"
   
   It was the one certificate I had most wanted to earn."
   
   Another fantastic book by Raban, the greatest, most thoughtful, introspective, literate travel writer alive today.
   



2. Raban is a very special travel writer and this book, which I read 18 years after he drifted down the Mississippi, warmed me like few others.
   His conversations with such a diverse (but from my experience, typical) set of Americans were classic. I dont believe he is unduly pessimistic but rather realistic and in many ways he captured early , many growing influences that impact American society (and global politics) today.



3. This is the first book I would recommend to anyone who wanted to understand the Mississippi River. It is the story of an Englishman who dreams of seeing the river, from Minneapolis to New Orleans, and so buys a 16' motorboat in which to ride downriver, see interesting cities, boring cities, and judge everyone he sees on the way. Telling a narrative of his journey, Raban takes time to meet the people who make the river work, from lock operators to barge drivers, and gives a clear picture of how the Mississippi lives. He offers colorful, clear descriptions of river features like boils, eddies, wing dams, and tows (which actually push). And still, he takes time out of his trip to campaign for a mayoral candidate.
   
   Nevertheless, in any book of this nature the author becomes the only major character, and I didn't find myself liking Raban the character very much. When I think of traveling the Mississippi, part of that dream is something of a wilderness adventure, but here is the wealthy Raban spending most of his nights in hotels, seeming rather weak and overly afraid of nature and wildlife. And while one's personal relationships during a solo journey like this are sure to be mostly superficial, Raban seems to take a uniformly negative, judgmental view towards the people he meets. Read this book to better understand the river, not mankind.



4. Raban left his wife in England and went to live in the States a number of years ago. He's written a number of great books about America and this is his best. He remarried and lived in Seattle, but is now divorced again. You won't see too many photos of a smiling, happy Raban- but apart from his Passage to Junea and his fiction, everything he's written is first class



5. Cerebral, yet accessable, Jonathan Raban is hard to peg in terms of genre. A book such as Old Glory could be considered travel writing, but such easy classification would fall far short of the mark. He incorporates history, some incredible descriptive prose, and sparse but welcome bits of dry British wit. In fact, his Englishness is part what makes the book so interesting - you see America, warts and all, from the eyes of an outsider. Raban is a stylist, who reveals himself to the reader slowly. I found him to be a very interesting, complex, slightly tortured figure. I will never look at the Mississippi as just some long line on a map ever again. The whirlpools, the logs, the dangers; always moving atop and into the unknown and on a vessel ridiculously undersized for such a trip; a metaphor, certainly. In terms of pure writing style, there cannot be many better than Jonathan Raban. This is a writer, you think, you will come back to.

1 comments about Moleskine City Notebook Firenze (Florence) (Moleskine City Notebook).

1. Moleskine City Notebook Firenze (Florence) (Moleskine City Notebook)
   
   Moleskine City Notebook: Roma
   
   I really liked the design of these notebooks but found that as small as the Rome and Florence books were I needed somehing smaller. So, after agonizing for a minute, I tore them both to peices. They came apart nicely if I paid attention to cutting the bound bundles of pages. I inserted the Florence map behind the Rome map discarded some of the tabed pages and saved the plain note book pages to make the one notebook I will carry to both cities. So far the glue is holding.

1 comments about Who Was Marco Polo? (Who Was...?).

1. I agree with reviewers who commented on other books in this series-- these are an excellent introduction to biographies and chapter books. My husband and I have read almost all of these "Who was..." books to our now 11 and 9 year old over the past year. I find them easy to read aloud and appropriately illustrated. They lead our family to deeper discussion of the person or history and politics of the time. Marco Polo is my nine-year-olds favorite bio. I found the Einstein bio to be very interesting, my husband like Darwin, my three-year-old liked Edison, and my nine-year-old son's favorite was Annie Oakley.

1 comments about Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage (New York Review Books Classics).

1. This collection of 14 shorter pieces by Tim Robinson, mathematician, teacher, artist and cartographer, gives a portrait of the west of Ireland which is unrivalled in recent writing from that country. Its' integrating device, and central metaphor, is the map. A map, stripped bare, is a distillation of topographical knowledege about an area. Onto this rudimentary two-dimensional scaffolding layer after layer of detail can be added. These are the details of culture, of history, personal memory. Robinson navigates the process of regarding a landscape with the notion of the fractal -- the notion of self-similar structures at multiple levels of observation (in "A Connemara Fractal"). He enjoyably talks us through the technical details of making maps, and has some wonderful stories of his mathematical training. I will not attempt to summarize the various chapters but would urge all those interested in landscape, biography, Irish history, coastal walks, fractal theory, natural history archaeology, literary fiction, and "home" (and that, I suppose, includes just about everyone) to read this. In a time when many find themselves living at some distance from their homeplace this book shows how a fresh intimacy with new landscapes can enrich and invigorate. As an Irish emigrant I am both compelled to return to Ireland after reading this and yet am encouraged to persevere in understanding of my new homeplace in the United States. I have loaned this book to friends in Costa Rica, in the American Northwest, and here in Georgia. All have felt its power. It should stimulate the reader to get his larger works on the Aran Islands. Be warned however these books, the present one included, eccentric masterpieces, will make you want to crumble soil between your fingers, circum-navigate your local terrain, and fumble into the interstices of your jaded soul. Liam Heneghan (heneghan@sparc.ecology.uga.edu; Athens, GA)

5 comments about Romania & Moldova (Lonely Planet Travel Guides).

1. I have exchanged emails with Leif, the book's co-author. While this book is generally useful and the authors have done a decent job, my email exchange with Leif only reinforced my impression that the authors were a little sloppy (and perhaps rushed?) when writing this book.
   
   I have some issues with this book, but to keep this review short, I will highlight my major complaint dealing with cultural relevance. This is a very important topic for any travel guide. Slobozia is a town where a Romanian billionaire built a lifesize replica of the 'Dallas' set, as well as some other crazy stuff like a junior Eiffel Tower. Slobozia was completely overlooked by LP. We only found out the day we left Romania, and were thus disappointed at not being able to visit. When I asked Leif about the oversight, he first stated it wasn't within his region to explore. This is wrong, because Slobozia is in Wallachia (which he was responsible for reviewing) and showed ignorance of the region on his part. He also said it probably wasn't included because it wasn't culturally relevant. This raises an important question: How do the authors decide if something is culturally relevant? The book spends several paragraphs on Borat, Madonna, South Park, and Michael Jackson. Are these more culturally relevant than a junior Eiffel Tower? This question has far-reaching consequences, including food, arts, history, language, and politics. Why does Leif omit Dallas but include Borat?
   
   We expect a travel guide to be sensitive to cultural relevance, not to selectively (and apparently randomly) omit certain cultural elements (no matter how tacky, in the case of Slobozia). My exchange with Leif raised important questions about cultural relevance, and reinforced my already mediocre opinion of this book. As a result, next time I will carefully research travel books rather than merely rely on the LP brand name.



2. Some of the reviewers here are focusing on tiny problems with what is a changing, tricky country to visit. And missing what is overall a great asset to a trip there. I mean, if you really want to go all the way to Romania to see an excluded copy of a 70s/80s American TV show set, then maybe you really don't need to be traveling all the way to Europe anyway!
   
   I had a great time using this guide through Bucharest, Wallachia and Transylvania. It was all I needed to gauge where to go, where to stay and how to get around. Sure I found a few great restaurants not included here, and disagreed with a review or two, but isn't that the point of traveling on your own?



3. I bought this book in 2007 for my 2008 trip to Romania. I was impressed. I was on this trip with my girlfriend who is a native Romanian and live in Romania. Still, the book showed us stuff she wasn't aware of. And in the cities outside Bucharest the book was really specific and perfect. If you follow what is written in this book, you will enjoy this trip 100% and will be using your time effciently.
   I have to admit, this book saved us when we were stuck in Sibiu trying to figure out how to go to the next city. Also is has very accurate maps..



4. This book was useful information-wise in visiting Bucuresti and Transylvania. However, I found the overall language of the book shallow and subtly pejorative and insulting to the local people of Romania, and I am surprised that Lonely Planet, a respected publisher of worldwide guides, has published this book as is. A big part of traveling is to show respect for the other culture and learn from it (especially spiritually). Obviously a guide also needs to be realistic and show the negative sides as well, but I disagree with the author's subtly suggested attitudes. I realize that there are two authors, I am only referring to the section I used, the one on Bucuresti and Transylvania.
   
   I want to stress that I am NOT Romanian. Suffice it to say that I showed the book to a very educated and well-traveled Romanian friend who was very unhappy with the first random sentence they saw.
   
   In conclusion, Romania is a great place that one should visit, but I wouldn't take this guide...



5. While the books is more like a directory than a guide, I am glad I purchased the Rough Guide to Romania as a backup.
   
   Was extremely disappointed that some guides in Romania, Moldavia in particular, use the Lonely planet name as a certificate or guarantee, to find out that these were extremely unqualified and rude individuals.
   Hint: be skeptical about these tour guides, and check www.tripadvisor.com reviews!
   
   Lately, I have been using the LP + Eyewitnees Travel guides which offer rich photographic material. Sorry no Romania yet.
   
   In this case I would say, buy the Rough Guide + the National Geo Guide and enjoy Romania.

5 comments about Narrow Dog to Carcassonne.

1. I didn't care for the book much. There were bits and pieces that were humourous, but overall, I didn't find it all that funny. That was disappointing, because I think the author can be quite humorous.
   I think, as others have mentioned, Darlington was trying too hard to show how erudite he was by including as many references to songs, books, quotes, poetry, etc. as he could. I'm well read and well traveled, but I didn't know what he was talking about half of the time.
   And even though this was about a boat trip, if I had to read one more ad nuasuem description of the locks they passed through, I would have screamed. Enough already!
   One more thing-it drove me CRAZY that there were absolutely no quotation marks in the book-made it very hard to read.



2. If you like travel and/or boats and/or dogs and/or a writer with humor and quotes from classics to films, this book will be right up your...canal. Funny and disarming, showing the downside moments as well as the champagne highs of taking a narrowboat across the Channel and, even more scaringly, down through France, not a dull page in the lot.
   
   I can't wait to see what happens when Terry and Monica and Jim the Narrow Dog come to my home country in the US.
   
   I read it in two sittings.
   BarbV



3. We've driven a barge to Carcassonne and the auther captures the experience. However, it was his sense if humor that kept us helpless.



4. I must admit that I have been to the UK and have been on a narrow boat. This book is hilarious, warm, endearing and I cannot wait to get the new book. Anyone who has ever traveled, either with a dog or children to someplace completely unfamiliar will appreciate the author's experiences. If you have been on one of the uniquely British narrowboats you are even more enraptured with the book. If you have been on a motorhome for a long trip, especially with children, you will appreciate Jim (the narrow dog). I must admit that Americans will have trouble with some of the English usage but it is well worth it. Wonderful book, wonderful story, wonderful people.
   WH



5. I read a lot of travel books and especially a lot of books about travel or living in France. This is, hands-down, one of the top 3 I've ever read, and I can't remember what the other two are! This is funny! It's honest. It's sometimes exciting. The writing is much better than that of most travel tales, by far!
   
   Mr. Darlington is a poet, and he's obviously had that wonderful sort of British education that sends one off into life with a head full of poetry as well as facts. This book is sometimes a poem, without a spare word. He makes his adventures come alive. He makes us want to be friends with him and his wife, Monica, and even with Jim the "narrow dog."
   
   I am really looking forward to the publication next year of his book about traveling the the southern U.S. Mr. Darlington, I hope you keep writing for a long time!

5 comments about Frommer's Sicily (Frommer's Complete).

1. The color fold-out map was useful in my journeys to Sicily's many historical sites and architectural monuments. This guide is all I needed in Sicily and covered all of my top destinations, including Palermo, Catania, Syracuse, and more!



2. I had this guide as a back-up to my conventional choice of DK Eyewitness. DK let me down completely, and I had to rely on Frommer - and boy was I lucky I bought this book.

   You may argue with the style of writing (for many, it is too patronizing and too prescriptive), but you cannot argue that they have done their reserch and then some more. If you are on a mission to set the world straight and if everything smelling of America appals you, you will not like it: Lonely Planet will make you happier. However, if you seek reliable information for your trip and generously extensive descriptions, Frommer's is your guide.

   Good maps, and detailed (if very personal) descriptions for lodging and restaurants. Practical info is as good as you can get in often unpredictable and laid-back Italian south. Info about driving in Italy is honest. Writing style is lively and positive; you get overall sense of authors enjoying themselves and really being in love with the island.

   This is Frommer's first guide to Sicily, and first guides are not always very strong - but this one is definitely a major success.

   Frommer's does not often come as top of the list in my guidebook recommendations, but this is one occasion where it does so with flying colors.




3. A nice book about Sicilly, with almost all information one may need. But for a multimedia savvy reader the layout of this book is a bit boring and drab.
   
   I am planning to make a boat trip to several destinations like Malta and Tunisia. One of the major port one will arrive taking ferry from Malta on Sicilly is Pozzallo, hardly mentioned at all in the book. This book is a bit too rigid in the travel framework it has laid for itself.



4. I had visited Sicily several times but the Frommer's Sicily (Frommer's Complete) has given me a new insight to areas and things to do in Sicily.
   Congratulations !
   
   I recall my first Frommer's book was Europe on 10 Dollars a Day !!!!!!



5. This book is a real let down.
   The suggested itineraries are absurd. The one week itinerary actually suggests that you try to visit the whole island in one week, which would involve you spending most of your time in the car!
   
   Most of the recomended best beaches are a bunch of flat, crowded, over-developed boring beaches next to the big cities. When actually Sicily is full of beautiful picturesque beaches set amongst interesting rocky cliffs off the beaten track.
   
   Furthermore, it seems that the writer never even visted the west side of the island. There is only 18 pages on the west side of the island, and the Egadi Islands are not even mentioned.
   
   I would not recomend this book, especially if you intend to visit the westside of the island.

No comments about Fodor's Moscow and St. Petersburg, 8th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides).