Lithuania Books

Lithuania - Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette

Lara Belonogoff

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Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Anthropology -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Anthropology -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Culture Smart! provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships.

Culture Smart! offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience. Contents include:

* customs, values, and traditions
* historical, religious, and political background
* life at home
* leisure, social, and cultural life
* eating and drinking
* do's, don'ts, and taboos
* business practices
* communication, spoken and unspoken

"Culture Smart has come to the rescue of hapless travellers." Sunday Times Travel

"... the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries." Global Travel

"...full of fascinating-as well as common-sense-tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas." Observer

"...as useful as they are entertaining." Easyjet Magazine

"...offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world." New York Times

Lonely Planet Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania

Nicola Williams

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Useful, but needs some work 3 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

As usual, Lonely Planet guides give the most detailed information on the "nuts and bolts" of travel (bus and train instructions, locations and practicalities.) We found this particularly useful in a region where we did not share a common language with the people.

However, tourism to the Baltic region boomed in 2004 with these countries' entry into the EU, making the book's hotel listings completely inadequate. I don't fault the authors/editors for not anticipating the boom, but rather comment that, for example, with only 3000 hotel rooms in Vilnius a guidebook now needs to list a lot more hotles so visitors can hope to get one of those now-coveted rooms!

The other drawback of this book is common to most other Lonely Planet titles: the information on cities, buildings, monuments, etc., is very dry (lacks color) and is overly terse. For such information, I have come to enjoy Rough Guides which usually include enjoyable walking tours of the major tourist areas.

Editorial Review:

Explore beautifully preserved architecture in medieval Tallinn, Art-Nouveau Riga or baroque Vilnius, the Baltics’ dynamic capitals. Cycle around Estonia’s islands, cross-country ski in Latvia or scale the sand dunes of Lithuania’s Curonian Spit. Whatever your pleasure, this bestselling guide will help you connect with this inspirational region.

Sweat It Out in a sauna or comb the countryside for berries and mushrooms – plan your trip with our dedicated activities chapter

Dream Sweetly in family-run guesthouses or boutique hotels – reviews to suit everyone

In-Depth Language Section – useful Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian phrases and food glossaries

Get Around – detailed maps and itineraries to help you navigate the three countries

Be In The Know – in-depth history and culture chapters explain the region’s past and present

Lithuania, 5th (Bradt Travel Guide)

Gordon McLachlan

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Subjects -> Travel -> Reference & Tips -> Guidebooks

Editorial Review:

Now into its fifth edition, Lithuania is an invaluable guide for planning a memorable vacation in this most hospitable of European countries. Some of the many attractions featured are the atmospheric Hill of Crosses at Siauliai, the charming seaside town of Palanga and the provincial town of Kaunas with its museums and botanical gardens. For those seeking a tranquil retreat by the Baltic Sea, the Curonian Spit National Park is well covered, with its town of Nida perched amongst a wilderness of dunes. An overview of the country’s chequered history is provided in addition to all the information necessary to create the perfect itinerary.

Vilnius with Kaunas: The Bradt City Guide (Bradt Mini Guide)

Howard Jarvis, Neil Taylor

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Useful little guide 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This little guide was a massive help on our recent stay in Vilnius, a lovely, charming city with a gorgeous Old Town. The guide advised us where to eat and what to see in a really handy pocket format (why hasn't anyone thought of this pocket-sized format before?). All in all, an indispensible book if you spend a weekend, week or more seeing this beautiful city.

Editorial Review:

Vilnius completes a trilogy of Bradt pocket-size guides to the Baltic capitals, providing all the essential listings and background on these new European members. Highlights of each city quarter are presented in a comprehensive city tour that takes in the cathedral, archaeological exhibitions, the old university with its astronomical observatory, and the Gates of Dawn (Lithuania's most famous place of pilgrimage). No stay in Vilnius would be complete without a visit to the nearby Trakai National Park, with its picturesque medieval island castle and old town, home to the Karaites sect.

This guide features:
>Exploring Vilnius's Old Town, castles, churches, and monuments
>Hotel suggestions to suit every budget and taste
>Restaurants, including local specialties and where to find live folk music
>Transportation within and beyond the city, and other practicalities

Showdown: The Lithuanian Rebellion and the Breakup of the Soviet Empire

Richard J. Krickus

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Gives important information that the American media missed. 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Krickus' work in this area is told in the format of a novel, not dry history. The people involved in critical moments are real. It is a compelling story and one that puts into perspective why the expansion of NATO should include the Baltic states.

Astute account and analysis of Lithuania's successful bid 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Perhaps there may be too many names for a reader unfamiliar with the setting and the plot, but the main character, the Lithuanian people, could not have asked for a better story teller.
I was in Vilnius in August, September, October and part of Novembember of 1990, and met many of the individuals mentioned in the book, as well as others, yet unnamed. Perhaps I should have kept a diary and recorded some of the events that should be known. I would be glad to share them with Mr. Krickus, if he chose to contact me.

Great account of the Lithuanian independence movement 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Krickus, who was on the ground in Lithuania for much of the period, offers a well written and insightful account of the Lithuanian independence movement during the later Gorbachev years. Unlike many foreign observers, he is sensitive to the differences in personality and tactics that emerged in the Sajudis movement. The description of the Soviet attempt to take the TV tower is particularly moving (I know some people who were there that night). I suspect Krickus is slightly overestimating the effect of Lithuanian resistance on the outcome of the August coup attempt, but this is a minor quibble.

Lithuania, 4th: The Bradt Travel Guide (Bradt Guides)

Gordon McLachlan

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Subjects -> Travel -> Europe -> Lithuania

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent Lithuania Travel Reference 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This is really the only complete travel book on Lithuania available. Complete coverage of the whole country. I especially liked the History chapter and the Further Reading Appendix. I always like to read up on the history of where I'm going and this book is an outstanding resource. The Where to Stay sections were large and useful.

My only complaints are that this book could use color maps instead and more detailed transport sections. I would have liked it to list the estimated travel prices and travel times in a table. Actually, I wish most travel guides would have a table summarizing everything from hotels, restaurants and transport but most travel guides don't do that.

Lithuania is a hidden jewel 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Once a year I go to Lithuania and spend a month there teaching about spirituality. The people are wonderful and the country magical.

This is a great book about a beautiful, quaint, poetic country. If you are thinking about going to Europe buy this book and pack your bags for Lithuania.

Editorial Review:

Lithuania is an invaluable guide for planning a memorable vacation in this most hospitable of European countries. This guide covers Lithuanian culture and historic attractions, as well as fundamentals such as transportation, restaurants, and accommodations.

From That Place and Time: A Memoir, 1938-1947

Lucy S. Dawidowicz

List Price: $21.95 By: W W Norton & Co Inc Amazon Marketplace: 17 new & used starting at $5.02

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

An extraordinary personal document 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

As a counterpoint to her more comprehensive scholarly work on the holocaust, this book provides several personal vignettes of that period in history. Beginning in New York City the account covers making arrangements for the trip, the author's stay in Vilna, a center of Jewish culture in Poland including elements of daily life, cultural, and political events, her narrow escape from Poland as the Nazi invasion progresses, and the finally agonizing wait in New York as news of the insuing catastrophy arrives in bits and pieces. This book provides insight into what it was like to live through that period in history, and may help those close to them to understand people who actually lived through it.

Editorial Review:

From that Place and Time is the memoir of Lucy S. Dawidowicz, an American-Jewish historian who set out to study Yiddish language and Jewish history at YIVO, the Jewish Scientific Institute in Vilna, Poland, in 1938. Escaping Poland only days before the Nazi onslaught, she worked in the New York YIVO during the war, and returned to Europe from 1946 to 1947 to aid Jewish displaced persons in Munich and Belsen with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Dawidowicz's memoir not only describes her pre-war year in Jewish Eastern Europe, but also treats the ghostly post-war period, and her role in salvaging what remained of Vilna's scorched Jewish archives and libraries.
Nancy Sinkoff's new introduction explores the historical forces, particularly the dynamic world of secular Yiddish culture, which shaped Dawidowicz's decision to journey to Poland and her reassessment of those forces in the last years of her life.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Map (Country Map)

Cartographia

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Ugly and useless 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This map is ugly and useless! It is totally green. There is no way to distinguish one country from the next, as everything is green! The lines are all green and the land is colored green, so country borders and terrain are indistinguishable. You can't tell where Latvia ends and Lithuania begins, even if you look up close! The map is printed in an unusual foreign language, too. It's not in French, German, Spanish, or English. I'm not sure what language labels everything. Maybe it's Lithuanian. This map does show major roads in red, but who cares about that?!?

Very useful 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The person who wrote the previous review obviously did not know what he/she was talking about. OK, the map mostly has a greenish background, but the major roads are in red, mionor roads in yellow, other roads are in white. Rail lines and waterways are shown, and major sights are printed in red. Place names are printed in the native languages as far as I can tell, which makes sense and is helpful (the highway signs, after all, are in the native language, not English). Borders and border crossings also are clearly shown. I just completed a trip to Latvia and Lithuania, and this map met my needs. If you plan to spend a lot of time driving in the countryside, however, another map with finer scale (this one is 1:700,000) for the particular area you plan to visit would be helpful to take along as well.

Editorial Review:

Folded road and travel map in color. Scale 1:700,000. Distinguishes roads ranging from motorways to secondary roads. Legend includes european roadnumbers, railways, ferry lines, international boundaries, border crossings, National Parks, nature reserves, churches, castles, ruins, museums, camping sites, beaches, viewpoints, golf courses, airports/airfields. Index to place names listed on back of map.

Baltic States Insight Guide (Insight Guides)

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Editorial Review:

From Riga to Kurzeme, and from Vilnius to Aukstaitija, this guide to the Baltic States covers it all. Illustrated with hundreds of full-colour photographs and 11 maps you won't want to leave without it. The places section contains a region-by-region breakdown; with top attractions highlighted and cross-referenced to detailed local maps. Incisive essays on each island's history, people and culture provide background on everything from folklore to its rich tradition in arts and literature. The best of the Baltics section features magazine-style, illustrated double-page spreads, giving a handy overview of each region's highlights, from its world-heritage cities to its crafts and local markets. A travel tips section includes practical listings, including accommodation, restaurants, pubs, bars and cafes, entertainment, nightlife, transport and essential contact addresses and numbers.

Baltic States 2007 (Michelin National Maps)

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