5 comments about The Road from the Past: Traveling through History in France.

1. As my wife and I prepare to go to France (Dordogne) for a walking tour with 'Country Walkers', we were advised to read up on French history. This book was recommended. What a great read! I just searched Amazon for more books by the same author and was dissappointed to see that she has no more listed. I would love to travel to France with her. Karen Brown, beware!!



2. 
   Despite the her extensive bibilography at the end of the book, Caro's research is at best superficial. In fact, she seems to have relied a great deal on the Michelin guide to the Dordogne. The author also has a tendency to insert herself into the story in an annoyingly coy manner. Not recommended.



3. Caro's guide is unique and she provided me suggestions about places to see, and not see, that were very helpful. Some other reviewers were annoyed with her personal travel narratives, but I found them interesting. Her method of how to visit France, by traveling though its history chronologically was very good. In the end, I was able to use her book as the basis for planning my own two week trip. I am a college history professor, and her insights and recommendations about how to travel were very helpful.



4. We are planning our second long driving tour of France, and having visited many of the places she details, have found Ina Caro's book to be engaging and immensely informative. I like being able to place "sights seen" in an historic perspective and this book is genius at doing just that. Now I've purchased my own copy -- having renewed the library version twice this Spring, and having read it prior to our 2003 trip as well. We don't need guidebooks to help us find hotels or restaurants anymore. THIS is my kind of guidebook, and it will never be "out-of-date!"



5. Being an avid reader of travel essays and an admitted francophile, I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Caro's book. Her suggested travel method of combining history and architecture is brillant. I've read about the historical events she details in her book, but I had never read about the details of those same events being paired with the architecture of the period. Ms. Caro also does an excellent job of lending insight to the often-unknown dramas accompanying the locales she visits. A must-read for anyone interested in French history, chateaux, or arm-chair travel! As an added bonus, Ms. Caro has even included her own travel tips and recommended hotels and restaurants.

4 comments about Time Out Budapest (Time Out Guides).

1. I lived in Budapest for five months and can honestly say that this book has no equal. It educates and entertains all at once. Time Out does a great job of researching the coolest hangouts, and describes their atmosphere so you know what to expect. Whether you want restaurants, museums, galleries, or flea markets, this is the book for you!



2. Budapeste é um lugar fascinante. As dicas deste livro são especiais para viajantes que gostam de conhecer lugares maravilhosos e com gastos razoáveis. Vale a pena comprar.



3. Bought this for a recent 5 day visit to Budapest.

   On the positive side, it is very useful for finding restaurants and bars. The reviews are generally accurate. The layout of the book is fine, using the index became the primary way of locating information.

   On the negative side, the book was very poor on providing what I would call 'travel' information; History of the city, places to see and do, getting around etc. I found many of the descriptions to be very condescending and patronizing and did not inspire us to visit anywhere. I gave up and bought the Lonely Planet Guide to Budapest which was much more useful.

   We ended up using the two books which led to a great 5 days in Budapest!




4. I brought the latest edition of TOBudapest, two weeks after it hit Amazon.uk, to Hungary with me this past October. That being said, I was a little let down. Granted, Budapest is a city that is still changing, establishing and re-establishing itself. However, I think Time Out missed the mark on several occasions here (and I'm a huge proponent of Time Out guides).
   
   The maps are especially erroneous. However, Time Out is once again very handy when it comes to addresses. I'd suggest buying a map upon arrival in Budapest (a good one can be picked up at a newsstand for a couple of bucks) and working in tandem with Time Out's signature style of breaking attractions up by area.
   
   You take your chances with the nightlife, which surprises me as this is usually one of Time Out's fortes. For instance, they mentioned that, when asked, a bartender at Katapult Kazevo described their hours as "2 AM crazy, 4 AM cool, 6 AM breakfast, 8 AM 'Hello, I love you.'" However, my travel partner and I got there around 11 to find them closing up (the bartender informed us, incidentally, that they were more of a cafe than a bar). This wasn't an isolated incident, which led us to wonder if someone forgot to change the bar/club names to correspond with the correct reviews. Perhaps we can blame the fall of communism for that one.
   
   They include a decent section on the Baths (Budapest's main attraction) and mention most of the other pertinent sights (Opera House, Oktagon Square, House of Terror, the cathedral, etc.). However, this is much more a consumer's guide to Budapest, based on the Big 3 of Wining, Dining, and Buying. While we were unable to try many of the upscale restaurants and indulge in shopping while there, the nightlife portion often steered us away from this guidebook and towards others to plan day itineraries. We did follow one of the day trips further afield with great success. And, as always, I appreciate the frankness of the editors when it comes to safety precautions, cultural and historical backgrounds (a necessity to understand in Eastern Europe, but overall I expected more from a publisher that (up until now) has never let me down.

3 comments about Sweden (Country Guide).

1. Lonely Planet always does a solid job and this is no different, but having also bought the Rough Guides Sweden guidebook, I would have to strongly recommend the later: ISBN: 1843536854.
   
   Lonely Planet looses in the amount of content (380 pages vs. 500+ in roughly the same size/weight as Rough Guides). The layout is less reader friendly and harder to search through. But in the end what really matters is that on every city Rough Guides has more information, better details and better maps. Plus Rough Guides was for 2006 published more recently and had presumably more update to date information. There is nothing wrong with this version of Lonely Planet, but given that's is the same price why not get the Rough Guides.
   
   If you are going to Sweden I would also point out Rick Steve's Scandinavia book if only for the highlights on the extremely reasonably priced cruise between Stockholm and Helsinki. It's an excellent way to spend 2 nights!



2. Lonely planet Sweden is not a bad introduction to Sweden, but it is not as reader friendly as it could have been, and it is a little short on content. However, I cannot recommend "The Rough Guide to Sweden" in its place, due to some grave omissions and incorrect and highly subjective information in this book.
   
   There are some minor errors in Lonely Planet Sweden that irritated me. For example, the word "älg" is translated as "Elk" through out the book (dozens of places). This is wrong, "älg" is "Moose" not "Elk". Sweden has moose but no elk (Kanada hjort). Another example is that the river "boat race" in Uppsala on the Walpurgis festival is actually a "float race", real boats are not used. Instead anything home made that floats, including Styrofoam skis, large airbags, and decorated floats are used. It is more of a comic arts and craft event rather than a "boat race".
   
   However, what annoyed me the most was that out of the books 313 pages only 36 pages were devoted to the Northern part of Sweden called "Norrland". This part is 2/3 of Sweden and has probably the most interesting attractions in all of Sweden. That includes wild life (thousands of Brown Bear, 300,000 Moose, reindeer, wolf packs, Lynx, etc.), the famous Ice Hotel (hotel made entirely of Ice), nature, mountains, moose hunting trips, fishing, ski slopes, national parks, Sámi culture, and much more. Central Europeans flock to Norrland to see these things that does not exist in other parts of Europe. This is described very briefly, if at all, in this book. However, the Ice Hotel lobby is depicted on the front cover, which is a consolation.
   
   I am from Norrland, so I may be biased too, but I still think that mentioning nothing about many of the popular tourist attractions in Norrland, while mentioning almost every Pizza joint in the country is imbalanced.



3. The 2006 (3rd) edition of "Lonely Planet Sweden" has a decent amount of information about Sweden, enough to permit planning for travel to that beautiful country. Sweden, with its viking roots, its briefly imperial past, and its very modern present, boasts a fantastic geographic diversity of farms, lakes, mountains, and islands spread along the Baltic Sea all the way to the Arctic Circle
   
   The format of the guide includes maps, diagrams, some photographs, and summaries of the attractions in each major region of Sweden. The coverage includes the entire country, although the southern portion, especially Stockholm, takes the majority of the content. This guide may be of most use to those looking for a quick survey on Sweden coupled with opinions on what may or may not be worth seeing. Those interested in more detail, or in forming their own opinions, will find plenty of other guides to meet those needs.

4 comments about Michelin the Green Guide Switzerland (Michelin Green Guides).

1. I bought this guide because Eyewitness and Knopf do not make a guide to Switzerland. These are always my 1st choice. I guess I'm just a pretty picture addict. But I must say that this is a well-done book. It reminds me of the Baedeker's guides. In fact it's set up very similarly. The front section has information about Switzerland, history, famous people, plants, animals, etc. The center section contains information on places in Switzerland in alphabetical order. The back section contains helpful travel information. Things like traveling by plane, boat, car, train. It contains a listing of sights, their opening times and admission charges.

   They like Baedeker's, have a rating system for the various destinations with 3 being must see, and 1 being interesting. Keep in mind though when using these ratings that even if somewhere is rated 3 stars doesn't mean that it will be a 3 star experience for you. If the rating is for a modern art museum and you just "don't get it", then you probably shouldn't visit just on the strength of the book rating.

   Another helpful feature is a map giving tours. Unfortunately, the description of these tours leaves a little to be desired. They could use some fleshing out. The map is good but the written description is confusing and lacking.

   They do list restaurants and lodging for the more major destinations, but these are limited and you'd be better off using a book dealing specifically with lodging (I'm sure Michelin would suggest their Red Guide).

   Overall this is a good general, getting started guidebook. Not the best, but a good second choice.




2. I have been to Switzerland at least six times. Recently I sat down with my daughter who has worked at a hotel at Interlaken in Switzerland during her years in Business Administration at McGill - up to last summer - and we went over the Switzerland guides to see how they ranked, and what was currently the best guide in our humble opinions. We are not experts but have certain requirements and preferences. It helps if one can get a feel for the area in advance of a trip, and generally that is helped by good maps and color photos. So those guides do better in our review. We like to make reservations by internet and telephone and just use the Guide as a "guide".
   
   Generally it costs more to publish a book with color photos so when all else is reasonably equal, one feels that they get better value with a guide with photos. Also we wanted to see if the ambiance at certain hotels and resorts was accurately portrayed in the text based on our knowledge. So those aspects of the guides determine our ranking. Incidentally all the books are excellent. When we did our review the new DK Eyewitness guide was not yet available, but in any case it will be short, under 400 pages.
   
   For the Swiss guides we separated the guides into three groups, 5, 4, and 3 stars.
   
   5 Stars (this group has nice color photos plus maps and text).
   
   A. Green Guide to Switzerland published February 2001 by Michelin, 395 pages, $14., ranked 24,380 on Amazon.com, 0.64" x 9.4" x 4.7", lots of photos, maps, text, accurate portrayal of areas. Gives a nice idea of what you will find. Goes right down to small villages in detail even though it is just 395 pages. First choice.
   
   B. Lonely Planet Switzerland published July 2003, 335 pages, $ 14., ranked 29,913 on Amazon.com, .69" x 6.42" x 6.5". Solid effort, lots of good photos and descriptions.
   
   4 Stars (this group mainly text and maps).
   
   C. Rough Guide to Switzerland published June 2003, 704 pages, $13.27, ranked 30,209 on Amazon.com, 1.08" x 7.8" x 6.38". Solid effort lots of things to see and do and best "text and maps only" books.
   
   D. Frommer's Switzerland published February 2003, 512 pages, $15.39, ranked 47,638 on Amazon.com, 1.1" x 8.5" x 5.08". Similar to Rough Guide but shorter.
   
   E. Fodor's Guide to Switzerland 42 edition, published December 2002, 448 pages, $14.7, ranked highest in group on Amazon.com at 3,172, 1.2" x 8.98" x 5.01". The smallest in the group, do not know why it is so popular?.
   
   3 Stars
   
   F. Michelin Red Guide published in 2004, 563 pages but in four languages: Italian, French, German and English so English sections are just a fraction of the book.



3. General Overview:
   I traveled to Switzerland by myself in 2005. In preparation for my trip I bought two travel guides from amazon: Michelin's Switzerland: The Green Guide and Lonely Planet's Switzerland. I used both guides to aid me in deciding which cities I would visit during my two week vacation.
   
   Since I've bought and used other Lonely Planet guides (Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium and Luxembourg), I found myself relying more on the Lonely Planet Switzerland book than the Green Guide when planning my trip in advance. In fact, it was based on the Lonely Planet's great section on Lausanne that I opted to include that beautiful city as part of my holiday. However, I did make use of the Michelin Green Guide to supplement the Lonely Planet guide (particularly for scoping out Grindelwald, Zermatt, and Zurich). All of my actual hotel decisions were made using on-line reviews, but both guide books gave me a reasonable feel for how far it would be for me to walk from the train station to my hotel.
   
   I ended up bringing both books (both are small and light weight) with me on my trip, and found that I did not need either book during the day. In Switzerland most cities have a tourist information office located in the main train station. These offices provide free stadtplans (city maps) that point out major points of interest, and I found these maps were easy to fold into my back pocket and enabled me to "be bold" and head off in places that were only vaguely described in the guide books.
   
   Comparison of the Two Books:
   The Green Guide really seems to focus more on tourism where you have access to a car. All of the points of interest are linked to colorful major road maps, but the Green Guide is lacking in providing the foot/train traveler in good directions to and from the train stations. Lonely Planet guides tend to be made with this type of traveler in mind, and though the Lonely Planet does a great job in describing self guided walking tours through major Swiss cities it too would sometimes talk about interesting castles, glaciers, or ice caves without providing specific foot or public transit directions (I ended up just asking the locals for directions ... and the Swiss are very friendly and easy to talk to).
   
   Since part of my joy about experiencing Europe is living without a car, if I had to choose between the two guides, I'd recommend the Lonely Planet for most people. However, in describing where I went and actually reading about the people and land itself, the Green Guide is a much more complete book. When I return to Switzerland I'll be carrying the Green Guide and not the Lonely Planet. The maps are really much better in the Green Guide, and the first 75 pages of the book offer a very detailed and comprehensive primer on what makes Switzerland unique and worth traveling to!
   
   If you can afford both books, I would buy the Green Guide first and read those first 75 pages as a primer. Then I start reading the Lonely Planet and use it to help narrow down which cities you'll visit. Thought he Lonely Planet has some history information (~60 pages), it also mixes in general travel advice in the introduction to Switzerland section that really waters down the fun of reading about a new place!



4. This guide is OK. The pictures are nice. It includes a number of hotel and restaurant recommendations, but I think the attractions info is probably the most useful. But, that info is also available free on the net. I wish there was a little more info regarding how to use the trains.

5 comments about What Every American Should Know About Europe: The Hot Spots, Hotshots, Political Muck-ups, Cross-Border Sniping, and Cultural Chaos of Our Transatlantic Cousins.

1. USA TODAY REVIEW - The Ugly American rap slapped on many U.S. travelers abroad has less to do with appearance (the enduring popularity of those his 'n' her tracksuits favored by many a trans-Atlantic flier notwithstanding) as it does with cultural ignorance.
   
   What Every American Should Know About Europe by Melissa Rossi (Plume, $16) seeks to wise up those Americans who are considering a trip across the pond. The book is a revision of her 2005 The Armchair Diplomat on Europe written with the notion that many Europeans themselves were uninformed about the influence of the European Union.
   
   Part tutorial, part guidebook and part trivia compendium, What Every American Should Know offers a country-by-country breakdown of "old Europe" (the 15 Western European nations that made up the EU before 2004) and "new Europe," composed of the 10 Eastern European countries admitted since then. Though it has been updated and reworked for an American audience, it's already a tad outdated given that Bulgaria and Romania, which didn't make it into the book, became the 26th and 27th members of the EU this month.
   
   Nor does Rossi shy away from imposing the sort of stereotypes that might get an Ugly American into hot water. There are references to "gruff French," "oh-so-polite Brits" and "thoughtful Swedes." And some observations are so obvious ("Europe is entirely different from the United States, where culture is more or less homogeneous ...") that if this is news to you, maybe you should just stay home.
   
   Still, the book is a handy mini refresher on pivotal events and people that shaped the nations of Europe -- why Ireland is divided; the basic philosophical differences between Socrates, Plato and Aristotle; what's behind chilly French-U.S. relations. It offers enough basic information that it might even prevent the "gruff French" from finding a visiting American ugly.



2. I'll admit: I have never been to Europe.
   Second confession: Despite majoring in political science in college, I left school knowing very little about the real intricacies and tangles of history that make up this small, diverse section of the world.
   
   When Rossi's "What Every American Should Know About Europe" came out, I sought a copy for these reasons. The bold "What every American should know..." title hooked me after her first book of the series hit the shelves, and I bought it on a whim, looking for a quick reference overview of the world and to see if the claim held water.
   
   After digesting her brand of humor and the way she presents information often overlooked by other current affairs books, I felt it was worth the money and doubled the impact (and, saved time) of regular texts specializing in the plethora of topics she covers.
   
   Rossi's style of writing uses humor and her snappy perspective to deliver loads of information with ease. She has a knack for making what would otherwise be garbles of boring facts fun to read, and at the end of the book, you realize you actually learned something. I still keep her past books around to reference when their various subject matters pop up in the news.
   
   In the Europe book she covers hoards of locales and summarizes them cleverly and without hesitation to address the most sensitive topics in the region. Sprinkled throughout the books are also countless photos, maps and side-boxes to retain the attention span of even the most ADD readers. More importantly, it keeps the book - about 400 pages, sometimes seeming a little long - enjoyable and moving fast.
   
   As for the previous comment about her politics, a reader always has to take into account that even if an author claims to not assume any bias (which I don't think Rossi does), all authors write with perspective. In my opinion, perspective gives the reader a better understanding of the material at hand, and moreover, offers interpretation to it based upon a certain train of thought.
   
   Every situation can be looked at from innumerable angles, and it would be impossible to write about something as vast as the whole of Europe while feigning a nonsensical notion of objectivity the entire time.
   
   Regardless, to me the book wasn't scribed in a "liberal" tone, but rather in the voice of someone who has actually traveled the region and made her own personal (and seemingly experienced) observations.
   
   A catch with the book, as in all current affairs books, is they must be constantly updated to keep pace with the ever-shifting situations in different countries. It will still retain the historical information, however, which serves to explain much about why the countries stand - or fall - the way they do today.



3. I saw this book in a bookshop in DC on the last day of a holiday thinking it would be an outrageous and entertaining American serial character assassination of every single European country, one after the other pulverised in turn - a good read for my seven hour flight back to London the next day.
   
   When I got on the plane and opened the book I then realised that the book was in fact a serious attempt to write an accurate guide to Europe.
   
   It is a good journalistic romp through each of the 27 members of the European Union in turn with each country's history and politics energetically summarised.
   
   It leaves out all other countries wholly or partly in Europe but not in the EU: Iceland, Switzerland,the whole of former Yugoslavia (except Slovenia), Turkey, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Norway.
   
   But, like a lot of journalism written to tight news deadlines, it is littered with factual errors, particularly historical ones, and questionable judgments.
   
   A few examples of historical errors that particularly struck me: (i)(p 57) the 'United Kingdom' was created in 1707, not 1927!;(ii)(p67) English Civil War only lasted six years not forty-eight!; (iii) (p347) Hitler took Prague and abolished Czechoslovakia in March 1939 (before his invasion of Poland and the start of World War 2 in September) not 1940 (the year he took Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, France, whilst the US was distracted elsewhere); (iv) (p 126) in 1918 "all Ireland's elected politicians" were not from Sinn Fein - at the last All-Ireland elections in December 1918 Sinn Fein won 73 seats, the unionists won 26 (the 73 Sinn Fein MPs boycotted London and set up their own parliament in Dublin while the 26 unionists took up their seats in the UK parliament in London to try to keep Ireland as part of the UK).
   
   What the book needs is a careful thorough 'fact check' for a second edition. In the meantime, only read those parts that cover things that you already know about.



4. This is the third book by Ms. Rossi that I've read now. They are bursting with information and extremely readable and informative. This book gave me a quick education on the current political climates in the various countries of Europe as well as outlining each countries history, naming some of the key landmarks, and giving brief biographies of notable people both past and present. Eye-opening and fascinating.



5. After reading this from my library, I decided that it fit my own collection of travel books. I learned more history here than in a wealth of textbooks.

1 comments about Three Men in a Boat - To Say Nothing of the Dog.

1. I want to be clear; this is specifically for the Kindle edition of this book. The actual content, the book itself, would get five stars. It's a great book, huge fun to read, shockingly undated given its age, and I could not have asked for more entertainment once I read it.
   
   I did not, however, manage to finish the book in this Kindle edition. This is perhaps the 25th book or so I have read in this format, and I have grown sadly used to the number of typographical errors and layout problems that lace the majority of the works, but this one I couldn't get through. There are hard returns throughout the book that presumably mark the end of the original line in the text. Unfortunately, they do not correspond to the end of the lines on the Kindle's screen, regardless of the text size, so literally every other line on the screen is one two three words long. It was too disconcerting to get used to, and finally I went through the trouble of downloading a public domain copy from Gutenberg and transferring that over to my Kindle.
   
   Maybe I am oversensitive to this problem, but do yourself a favor and look at the sample of the book before you purchase it. If I had done so I never would have bought it, regardless of the price. 5 stars for the content; 1 star for the edition.

1 comments about Bologna & Emilia-Romagna, 4th (Country & Regional Guides - Cadogan).

1. We traveled to Bologna and Emilia cities and Appenines in September 2008. We loved every minute of it- great food, nice people, and beautiful scenery. This book gave us the best recommendations for restaurants and hotels, with interesting historical background. Well written and fluent.

3 comments about Artwise Paris Museum Map - Laminated Museum Map of Paris, FR - Streetwise Maps (Artwise).

1. I absolutely love the Artwise maps. They are THE BEST for tourists trying to get around a city. It's a laminated tri-folding document so doesn't rip, is great in inclement weather, and not a big massive complicated folding map that is difficult to use. I was recently in Paris and it was the only thing we needed or used. It marks the location of museums and monuments, and gives their hours and general information. It also has a metro map so it was easy to either walk or ride to our destinations. We even successfully found our way to a great tiny restaurant on a small street in the Marais, which had been recommended by a friend. You Won't be disappointed with this map!



2. This is the perfect map for the Art Lover in Paris. And if it starts to rain, hello, it's water proof! Get it or regret it!



3. Artwise Paris Museum Map - Laminated Museum Map of Paris, FR - Streetwise Maps (Artwise)
   
   Wonderful but still I'm waiting for a Map of Viena from the same company I think ;that I ordered and never received!!!

2 comments about British Language & Culture (Lonely Planet Language & Culture) (Language Reference).

1. I bought this book, because i'm interested in English. I'm not a native speaker, and i'm not brought up in an English speaking country. After learning for English in school for almost twenty years, i'm more interested in culture now. I can find out how British language is different from other English, and how it is related to other language. It's just a wonderfully amazing experience reading this book.



2. Es el pasaporte para entrar al Reino Unido.
   Me sirvió extraordinariamente para conocer:
   a. frases clave
   b. comunicación diaria
   c. curiosidades en costumbres
   d. particularidades del Reino
   Cómprelo con total confianza.

1 comments about Michelin the Green Guide Portugal (Michelin Green Guides).

1. Anyone visiting Portugal as a tourist will need this guide, far and away the most detailed and informative of available guidebooks. You will need the Michelin red guide (which also covers Spain) for Hotels and Restaurants although a few are mentioned here for each city. Pictures are nice and the format is convenient. Green guides are much improved over the old ones that were too densely printed and hard to read.