Perfect Summary on Bhutan
597633
This book is very useful for both people who read about Bhutan for the first time and those who are more acquinted with this magical buddhist kingdom. Pommaret selected the right material for this book and you are going to love the photographs also. Very factual and informative, thoroughly prepared. It will make you want to go there.
510059
This is an excellent book for readers like me who have heard of the Dalai Lama but who have never really known who or what he actually is. Includes details of China's bitter relationship with Tibet. Full of information that I had never learned in all my years in college. Did you know that the Tibetan monks were responsible for the near extinction of the Bengal tigers? Very easy, relaxing, but informative reading. After I finished the book I listened to a few of the Dalai Lama's talks on You Tube - he is truly a delightful person who teaches kindness. I highly recommend this book.
1798591
I am a big fan of the DK Eyewitness Travel Books.  This particular volume covers southern Arizona (the desert area), northern Arizona (the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff), and the Four Corners area (the Navajo Nation, Mesa Verde, and Monument Valley).  I could have wished that this volume covered more of either Utah, New Mexico or Colorado making a thicker volume, but this one was more pinpointed.  Information was current, and all of the helpful suggestions about visiting the Grand Canyon were spot on.

My grandmother had tried to help us prepare for our trip by getting materials from AAA, but the four guide books she got from AAA paled in comparison to this one succinct volume.  The short history and cultural explanation was perfect for helping my husband become acquainted with the area, and the hotel and restaurant suggestions in the back cover a range without being overwhelming like some guide books.

The only correction to make since the publication of this volume is that the Toy and Doll Museum which was previously located in downtown Phoenix near Pioneer Square moved in April 2015 to a new location.  That aside, I will continue to purchase DK Eyewitness Travel guides for their clarity, ease of reading, and photos.  DK Eyewitness Travel guides also make it easy to decide how to manage your time and what to prioritize on your trip.  Happy traveling!
4168914
This book is one of the better tourist books for South Korea. It gives a good balance of pictures and text so you can flip through it really fast to find things instead of having to read through everything. It was so good I bought another to give to a friend!
1938431
Bauer's book is a narrative of medieval history. It covers facts without a lot of fluff. I like how it travels the globe to give you an idea of what is going on all over during a time period. I learned a lot about Indian and Korean history which I'd never encountered and was able to line up events on different continents and see the relationships. Well worth the credit.
726912
We just returned from a trip to New Zealand and this DK Eyewitness Travel Guide was ideal.  It gives all the highlights with enough detail to help you to decide what to do or see, and what not to miss.  It is helpful to read before your go when planning your trip, and a valued reference guide once you are in a particular place. New Zealand is beautiful and quite fascinating.  There are vast differences between the South Island and the North Island and this guide brings each into focus. It also provides the history of this country, which is fascinating and important to understand as this land is particularly isolated.  We hope to go back to New Zealand next year, and we will definitely take this guide with us.  It offers suggestions for day hikes and longer treks through the southern Alps, new experiences to try in Queenstown the "Adventure Capitol" where bungy jumping was invented,  wine tasting opportunities throughout the country, and interesting walks through the beautiful cities such as Christ Church.  In general, we are fans of DK Eyewitness Guides because they not only provide great descriptions of places of interest, but they are also very good at restaurant and hotel description and recommendations.  They provide an accurate price range, and apt descriptions of the food and ambiance.  We have been using these guides for over 15 years, when we travel abroad, and have found that we can always rely on the information contained within them.  We find the history of each place, the timelines of events, the color graphics, maps  and photographs to be user-friendly, very helpful and engaging.
3777071
I have seen nice coffee table books on Angkor with great pictures but poor comments, also some very boring historical books. This one is a perfect mix between history (religions/country/art) and guide with a lot of detailled pictures, maps and genuine explanations that sometime may challenge the current academic research. A great tool for before, during and after a visit to this amazing place.
3460458
I've read many books on North Korea. This is not the most exhaustive, but is a fantastic overview for anyone new to learning about the country. Highly recommended!
3216403
We lived in Malaysia in the '90s, and traveled to Thailand several times for vacations.  We were fortunate to have a Thai friend who took us around to see the sights and help us order food.  Like the author, we loved the outdoor food stalls and stuffed ourselves every day with fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood, curries, duck, and even things we couldn't identify.  Those visits to Thailand remain among some of our favorite memories of traveling in Asia.  We took home memories of delicious food and the charming Thai people, who graciously helped us to experience their country and culture while overlooking our faux pas.

Mark Wiens (the author) has written a beautifully illustrated book to help visitors understand the hundreds of Thai dishes they simply must try.  He has lived in Thailand for two years and has an obvious love for the country and food, yet explains it all in a way that foreigners to that country will understand.  He helpfully organizes foods by venue (food stall, sit down restaurant, halal) and type (breakfast, desserts, dinner beverages), and explains pronunciation, ingredients, good Thai manners, and even gives names and addresses of his favorite restaurants and food stalls.  I especially enjoyed seeing the videos linked in the book.

Having this book loaded on a Kindle would be amazingly helpful to any traveler visiting Thailand, and I highly recommend it.
1973922
Really fine book, I'm using it as a reference. Ven. Nyanuttara's curiosity and knowledge about Arakan makes this book an actual page turner for me in many parts. I was glad to find a text that pulled the elements of actual Buddhist practice with this historical temple (etc) building which took place during a long, rich history of early Arakan and then Mrauk U's Kingdom from 1431 until 1784 when Mrauk U was conquered. I went to Mrauk U in 2011 and was completely fascinated by what I saw. Now I want to go back!
3098533
One sees many books covering this topic in one way or another, but I am impressed that National Geographic did an outstanding job of introducing the topic.  Both the most important and many lesser empires are included, each with excellent small maps and many details of their culture, art, government, etc.  Asia and South America are not left out.  At the end is a simple but very useful comparative chronology of the empires showing their origins, peaks, and declines.  I would have liked to see more on the short-lived, mostly evil, 20th century empires that caused so much war, but overall this is a great single book summary of empires in world history.
2905229
The book is excellent. It has all the neccesary information about Bhutan and more.  The photografies are beautiful and the biding is perfect.
3726748
I moved to Paraguay less than a year ago. Finding information about the country was an adventure, so my search for a guide book eventually led to a somewhat dead end. I own Lonely Planet South America which has a small chapter about Paraguay. It's better than nothing, but the chapter pales in comparison to chapters written about other countries in South America.

So when I heard about this book, I was excited. It is great, with the most current information about the country. There's detailed information about not just Asuncion, the capital, but about other lesser known places in Paraguay. I particularly like that the book isn't written either from a backpacker's perspective or from a high-end traveler's perspective. It offers an objective view on Paraguay, giving information that would be helpful in any situation.

The author has lived in Paraguay a while now, so the information is reliable. I really couldn't put this book down; I was so excited to finally have a guide book about this country in which I will be living for the next two to three years.
3274223
I gave this as a gift to my friends who had traveled to Bhutan and they absolutely loved it. The story is very true to the culture and traditions of the people in Bhutan and in the Phobjika Valley.
1253975
This is the catalogue of the show of Sacred art from Bhutan that toured from Honolulu to New York and San Francisco and then went on to Paris, Cologne and Zurich. The exhibition itself was a ground-breaking tour de force, but the various curators went one better by producing a high quality catalogue that gives detailed explanations and gorgeous colour reproductions of the various works in the show. Page after page of things to amaze - and the icing on the cake is that the catalogue also contains a DVD of rare, sacred dances from Bhutan. If you saw the show - then you probably already have this catalogue - but if you missed it - here's a chance to get a good idea of what this amazing exhibition was all about.
3359503
Having recently visited Estonia, I was interested to learn something of their history.  This publication is ideal.  It is easy to read and yet presents factual data in a simple readable form. I think I made a great choice and would recommend this to others
98230
"A Concise History of China" has a great approach to summarizing the past 3000 years of chinese history with appropriate comparisons to other nations such as Great Britain, France, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Russia, Portugal, Germany, Italy, and the United States.  The book is filled with facts, and is complimented by Ebrey's "Cambridge Illustrated History of China" which discusses individual topics in less detail, but gives a better picture in its entirety.