Reference Books

SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea

John Lofty Wiseman

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Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Survival Skills

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 108 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Not as Good as the Army Survival Manual 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 21 people found this review helpful.

Good title but that is about it for this book, compared to the U.S. Military.

a must have 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Every time I open this book, I'm amazed at how much information is packed in the 570 pages. Covers everything you need to know, plus some. A great buy, at a great price.

"Comprehensive" doesn't begin to describe this book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

If you ever wanted to know ANYTHING about survival in the wilderness, it's in here. There's so much info in here, though, you might have to spend a few minutes finding it. One of the definitive books in the field.

SAS Survival Handbook 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The book is very nice with pictures inside that explain a lot of things i would like to know.
Its is a great survival guide! i definitely recommend it!

Editorial Review:

The SAS Survival Handbook is the Special Air Service's complete course in being prepared for any type of emergency. John 'Lofty' Wiseman presents real strategies for surviving in any type of situation, from accidents and escape procedures, including chemical and nuclear to successfully adapting to various climates (polar, tropical, desert), to identifying edible plants and creating fire. The book is extremely practical and is illustrated throughout with easy-to-understand line art and diagrams.

1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List

Patricia Schultz

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Workman Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 225 new & used starting at $2.13

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 308 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Lots of Fun! 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 15 people found this review helpful.

The spirit of this book is well exemplified by a quotation from Mark Twain (Page xv): "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the tide winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." So, the author advances a listing of places throughout the world worth discovering. This is a companion piece to another volume of hers, in which she explores 1,000 places to see within the United States.

The world is divided into eight regions, for the purposes of organizing discussion: Europe; Africa; the Middle East; Asia; Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands; the United States and Canada; Latin America; the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Bermuda.

In a brief review here, it would be impossible to illustrate each region in any depth. Maybe some samples from a few of the regions. Needless to say, any selection like this is apt to engender discussion--Why were some places left out? Why were others included? But that's part of the fun of a book like this!

Europe: Some of the usual suspects like Windsor Castle, Winchester Cathedral, London, the Salzburg Festival, Vienna, Paris, Versailles, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Sistine Chapel. But there are other treasures as well: Bellagio, Rhodes, Ile de Re, Kinsale, and Ludlow.

Africa: The Great Pyramids, Abu Simbel, Jack's Camp in the Kalahari Desert, the Cape Winelands, and so on.

United States and Canada: Kenai Peninsula, Monterey Peninsula, Telluride, South Beach, Art Institute of Chicago (one of my favorite art museums), Art Gallery of Ontario, Nimmo Bay Resort, Polar Bear Safari, and the like.

This is fun simply to browse. Choose a page at random and fantasize a trip there. . . . Again, lots of fun!

Editorial Review:

Around the World, continent by continent, here is the best the world has to offer: 1,000 places guaranteed to give travelers the shivers. Sacred ruins, grand hotels, wildlife preserves, hilltop villages, snack shacks, castles, festivals, reefs, restaurants, cathedrals, hidden islands, opera houses, museums, and more. Each entry tells exactly why it's essential to visit. Then come the nuts and bolts: addresses, websites, phone and fax numbers, best times to visit. Stop dreaming and get going.

Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel

Rolf Potts

Amazon Price: $11.16 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Villard Books Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $7.98

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 54 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Motivational, Informative, and Insightful 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

After travelling through South America for seven weeks I was inspired to plan a larger-scale open ended world trip. I read this book a couple of years ago as I was working to save up the necessary travel funds and I have read many other travel books like it. Now a month away from starting my journey I must say that this was the best of all those travel books.

There is the practical advice which is common and overlapping with most other travel books, but the main things that cause this book to stand out are Potts' excellent writing style which helps one to glide through the pages with enjoyment and a yearning to return to the open road. Also, Potts has a prevailing wisdom obviously aquired from his years of travel and this is exhibited in various insightful commentaries that elevate this to a philosophical read on life as well as travel.

For those planning to "vagabond" I would recommend reading as many of the travel books you have the time for as each one will surely offer something new for the reader to take away (other great books are "The World Awaits" by Paul Otteson, "World Stompers" by Brad Olsen, and "Escape from the Happy Cannibal" by Ron Miller). This book should be at the top of that list.

Editorial Review:

Vagabonding is about taking time off from your normal life—from six weeks to four months to two years—to discover and experience the world on your own terms. Veteran shoestring traveler Rolf Potts shows how anyone armed with an independent spirit can achieve the dream of extended overseas travel. Potts gives the necessary information on:

• financing your travel time
• determining your destination
• adjusting to life on the road
• working and volunteering overseas
• handling travel adversity
• re-assimilating back into ordinary life

Not just a plan of action, vagabonding is an outlook on life that emphasizes creativity, discovery, and the growth of the spirit. Visit the vagabonding community’s hub at www.vagabonding.net.

Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary

Rick Steves

Amazon Price: $7.95 List Price: $7.95 Usually ships in 11 days By: Avalon Travel Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $1.79

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Subjects -> Reference -> Foreign Languages -> Instruction -> Phrasebooks - General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 49 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Not a way to learn the language 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 9 people found this review helpful.

It seems that Americans buy books such as these in great numbers. They are generally a waste of time. If one observes how most foreigners speak English when they visit us, we might try to emulate them when we go abroad. Italian is not a particularly difficult language to learn; there are many cognates with English....and Spanish and French. You will enjoy foreign travel so much more if your vocabulary can be extended beyond "Where is the Post Office". In fact, with laptops and e-mail, no one really uses the post office very much these days. Get some tapes and listen to them on your commute; take an adult ed. course, but these phrase books, which looked cute 50 years ago when post-war Americans started discovering Europe should now be considered obsolete.

Editorial Review:

Buon giorno! From ordering calamari in Venice to making new friends in Tuscan hill towns, it helps to speak some of the native tongue. Rick Steves, bestselling author of travel guides to Europe, offers well-tested phrases and key words to cover every situation a traveler is likely to encounter. This handy guide provides key phrases for use in everyday circumstances, complete with phonetic spelling; an English-Italian and Italian-English dictionary; the latest information on European currency and rail transportation, and even a tear-out cheat sheet for continued language practice as you wait in line at the Sistine Chapel. Informative, concise, and practical, Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary is an essential item for any traveler's zainetto.

The Disneyland Encyclopedia: The Unofficial, Unauthorized, and Unprecedented History of Every Land, Attraction, Restaurant, Shop, and Event in the Original Magic Kingdom

Chris Strodder

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

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Spanning the entire history of the park, from its founding more than 50 years ago to the present, this fascinating book profiles 500 attractions, restaurants, stores, events, and significant people from the history of Disneyland®. Each of the main entries in the book examines in detail the history of a Disneyland® landmark, including how many of the most popular attractions went through several incarnations before becoming what they are today—Tomorrowland’s Hall of Chemistry and Hall of Aluminum were transformed into the groundbreaking Adventure Thru Inner Space in 1967, and then became the popular ride Star Tours 20 years later. Read about unbuilt concepts, including Rock Candy Mountain and Chinatown, and delight in fascinating trivia about the park, such as ride statistics and attendance records. With a daily list of events, openings, and closings in the park's history, a yearly summary of attractions that came and went, simple and clear maps that correspond to the book’s 500 entries, and sidebars with additional information on each ride, this is a comprehensive and entertaining book overflowing with detail on the most-renovated, most-loved, and most-visited theme park in the world.

Make the Most of Your Time on Earth (Rough Guide Reference)

Rough Guides

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Subjects -> Travel -> Guidebook Series -> Rough Guide

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Make the Most of Your Time on Earth: A Rough Guide to the World with 1000 must-do experiences from around the world, Make the Most of Your Time on Earth is a book that will inspire everyone. Perfect for both the seasoned traveller and the armchair dreamer, it brings you the very best travel experiences - extraordinary landscapes, jaw-dropping architecture, white-knuckle adventures, and the world’s best beaches. From Intrepid travel adventures such as trekking to the source of the Ganges, cycling the Karokoram Highway and hiking Corsica’s GR20, to suggestions for the perfect places to stay- have you ever tried sleeping in a yurt in Inner Mongolia or chilled out at the Icehotel in Sweden? For amazing wildlife why not look for lemurs in Madagascar or go platypus-watching in Australia. Don’t forget the world’s most spectacular festivals including Queen’s Day in Amsterdam, Trinidad carnival and the camel fair in Pushkar. Whether you are tempted by living in an African village or tagging dolphins on the Spanish coast, there’s all manner of ethical travel experiences to keep those feet itching!

The very best things to see or do, and not before you die, but now.