Middle East Books

The Places In Between

Rory Stewart

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Subjects -> History -> Middle East -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 154 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Total Disappointment 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This was a truly awful book on Afghanistan. It provided little new information about the country, its people, or its history. The book also was dull and lacked a coherent theme. The best part of the book was the short anecdotes on Babur Shah and the brief descriptions of the Ghorid dynasty, which once ruled parts of central Afghanistan. While I acknowledge that the author took great risk in walking from Herat to Kabul shortly after the fall of the Taliban, I question his motives and am fairly convinced that his self-promoting journey did little to improve the lot of the Afghan people.

Editorial Review:

In January 2002 Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan-surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day he passed through mountains covered in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities thriving amid the remains of medieval civilizations. By night he slept on villagers' floors, shared their meals, and listened to their stories of the recent and ancient past. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion-a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistan's first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following.

Through these encounters-by turns touching, con-founding, surprising, and funny-Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the map's countless places in between.

Egypt (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

DK Publishing

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Subjects -> Travel -> Africa -> Egypt -> General
Subjects -> Travel -> Africa -> Egypt -> General AAS
Subjects -> Travel -> Africa -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Primer on Egypt 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a great first book to begin an understanding of Egypt before travel. It covers all major areas in extensive detail; provides suggestions for the best places to visit while in the country; detail pictures of what to look for at various sites;and the last section on travel tips I found invaluable. It is current (2008 ed) and I especially like the size of the book, which can be tucked into a carry-on bag or a back-pack while touring and doesn't weigh a ton. "Don't leave home without it!"

Next best thing to being there 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

As a future traveler to Egypt, any information about traveling there is appreciated. With Eyewitness Travel Egypt, almost every topic I need to know is there. This book discusses the history, the various districts in Cairo, the pyramids, the cruises, hotels, beaches, and facts that you might need to know, but don't know to ask.

The detail is remarkable. The best section that I found for practicality was the 'Survival Guide'. As westerners we assume way too much, so this bit was very welcome.

[...]

Egyptology

Ian Andrew, Dugald Steer

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> History & Historical Fiction -> Fiction -> Ancient Civilizations

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 53 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Discover the wonders of ancient Egypt through a fascinating journal from a lost expedition — a treasure trove of fact and fantasy featuring a novelty element on every spread.


Who can resist the allure of ancient Egypt — and the thrill of uncovering mysteries that have lain hidden for thousands of years? Not the feisty Miss Emily Sands, who in 1926, four years after the discovery of King Tut's tomb, led an expedition up the Nile in search of the tomb of the god Osiris. Alas, Miss Sands and crew soon vanished into the desert, never to be seen again. But luckily, her keen observations live on in the form of a lovingly kept journal, full of drawings, photographs, booklets, foldout maps, postcards, and many other intriguing samples. Here are just a few of EGYPTOLOGY's special features:

— an extravagantly gilded cover, featuring a raised Horus hawk pendant with three encrusted gems
— a playable game of Senet — ancient Egyptian checkers — including board, pieces, original-style dice, and rules
— a souvenir booklet showing how to read simple hieroglyphs
— a scrap of textured "mummy cloth"
— a facsimile of the gilded mummy mask of King Tut
— a gilded eye-of-Horus amulet with a "jewel" at the end

Rich with information about life in ancient Egypt and peppered with Miss Sands's lively narration, EGYPTOLOGY concludes with a letter from the former Keeper of Antiquities at the British Museum, explaining which parts of this unique tale may be accepted as fact, which are guided by legend, and which reflect the author's delightful sense of fancy.

Shadow of the Silk Road (P.S.)

Colin Thubron

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Subjects -> History -> World -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Un libro hipnotizante 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

El Sr. Thubron es un viajero de antiguo cuño. No usa máquinas fotográficas. Si es que toma algunos apuntes, me imagino que lo hace sobre una Moleskine. Allí,tal vez, también dibuja. Educado en Eton y Oxford, su prosa es elegante y maravillosa. Hipnotiza al lector. Calla para dejar que los propios personajes hablen. Ha gastado su vida en Asia. Su conocimento llega al grado de la erudición, aunque nunca intimida con ello.
Lo veo en la línea de un Patrick Leigh Fermor o de R. Kapukzinski.
Se lo recomiendo, fervientemente.

Editorial Review:

To travel the Silk Road, the greatest land route on earth, is to trace the passage not only of trade and armies but also of ideas, religions, and inventions. Making his way by local bus, truck, car, donkey cart, and camel, Colin Thubron covered some seven thousand miles in eight months—out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran into Kurdish Turkey—and explored an ancient world in modern ferment.

Jerusalem and the Holy Land (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

DK Publishing

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Subjects -> Travel -> Guidebook Series -> Eyewitness -> General

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

Fine guide, but biased 3 out of 5 stars.
16 of 17 people found this review helpful.

As someone who has lived in Israel for almost a year, I know that every tiny thing is politicized here. So I don't really hold it against this guide that it has an obvious anti-Zionist slant. It's hesitant to mention the word Israel (note the title), but sometimes it does. It does not acknowledge that Jerusalem is in Israel, but you'd only notice that if you're paying attention. Any section that discusses the modern history of Israel is severely biased. The tone is appropriate, but the facts are presented in such a one-sided manner that relying just on this book would give you a seriously skewed perspective. There aren't many up-to-date guides to Israel, and this one is pretty good (I also like the Frommer's). So go ahead and buy this guide, but read about Israel from a couple of other sources to offset the bias. The Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict is an easy to digest overview, though it's biased in the other direction -- sadly, I don't think objectivity on this subject is achievable.

Purely as a tour guide, this doesn't quite stand alone; it's a great supplement if you have another guide. Hotel and restaurant listings are very brief, and they aren't included on the maps.

Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff

Rosemary Mahoney

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Subjects -> Travel -> Africa -> Egypt -> General
Subjects -> Travel -> Africa -> Egypt -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

When Rosemary Mahoney, in 1998, took a solo trip down the Nile in a seven-foot rowboat, she discovered modern Egypt for herself. As a rower, she faced crocodiles and testy river currents; as a female, she confronted deeply-held beliefs about foreign women while cautiously remaining open to genuine friendship; and, as a traveler, she experienced events that ranged from the humorous to the hair-raising--including an encounter that began as one of the most frightening of her life and ended as an edifying and chastening lesson in human nature and cultural misunderstanding. Whether she's meeting Nubians and Egyptians, or finding connections to Westerners who traveled up the Nile in earlier times--Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert among them--Mahoney's informed curiosity about the world never ceases to captivate the reader.



"A pilgrimage about pilgrims and holy places that is not only enlightening but also very funny." -Paul Theroux (on The Singular Pilgrim)


"Mahoney is a wonderfully effective catalytic agent: she goes to Ireland and just makes the country happen around her." -Jonathan Raban (on Whoredom in Kimmage)

"Mahoney, who has been rowing for 10 year, brilliantly juxtaposes an account of her own palm-blistering hours on the Nile....with the diary entries of two Victorian travelers-Gustave Flaubert and Florence Nightingale."
--Lisa Fugard, New York Times Book Review

Lonely Planet Egypt: A Travel Survival Kit (Lonely Planet Egypt)

Leanne Logan, Geert Cole, Damien Simonis, Scott Wayne

List Price: $17.95 By: Lonely Planet Amazon Marketplace: 13 new & used starting at $1.79

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

oldie but goodie? 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

couldn't get the newest edition before i left for egypt. some of the prices in here might be off. general sites and advice - excellent! added advice: any sites in luxor, go either really early or really late. ignore the people. for kahn el-kahlili in cairo, to get rid of peddlers, just keep walking. they won't follow you past the area in front of their store because it's the next store's territory.

Lonely Planet Egypt 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 10 people found this review helpful.

I love buying from Amazon. Amazon is prompt with delivery & efficient with service. AMAZON, you need to come to RSA, where I live. I love reading books so I shop online for Amazon's unbeatable prices & added value for money. I really got a good deal from Amazon with my Lonely Planet Egypt Guide & now I am off to Egypt with my book:-). Thank You Amazon for great prices!!!

Satisfied Customer

Editorial Review:

Fully updated and expanded, this practical guide is the ideal companion for exploring Egypt's legendary attractions. It offers practical information for all budgets, information on outdoor activities (from snorkeling to camel safaris), over 91 new or thoroughly updated maps, and notes on shopping for local crafts. In addition, there is information on newly opented sites, including the Tomb of Nefertari. of color illustrations.

The Great Railway Bazaar

Paul Theroux

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A peerless and unforgettable travel narrative 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This fabulous account of getting on the train in London and riding trains (including the decrepit Orient Express) through Europe, across Asia as far east as Japan, then looping back to Europe on the Trans-Siberian, is not a bit dated, even though it was first published in 1975. Theroux is sometimes cross and prickly, but he doesn't miss a thing, and he ventures into places (and eats things) that most people never would. Because he is also a novelist, he's deft at limning the appearances and characters of the people he meets, and these people, who are variously vain, odd, smelly, crazy, foolish, bigoted, or just eccentric, give this travelogue--and indeed all of Theroux's travel narratives--the quality of a Dickens novel. I've read and enjoyed several of his other rail narratives, including "The Old Patagonian Express" (Central and South America) , "Kingdom by the Sea" (United Kingdom), and "Dark Star Safari" (Africa). I'd start with this one, though, with its wonderful section on Vietnam in the last year of the war and its melancholy voyage across Leonid Brezhnev's sclerotic Soviet Union. As with all good books, it will transport you to places you did not know existed, even in this era of Google Earth. As for those who don't care for Theroux's sometimes cranky persona, well, there are always the twittering ecstasies of Peter Mayle ("A Year in Provence," etc.) or--worse--Frances Mayes ("Under the Tuscan Sun," etc.). Theroux's sojourns will never inspire busloads of tourists or the astronomical appreciation of the local real estate.

Editorial Review:

First published more than thirty years ago, Paul Theroux's strange, unique, and hugely entertaining railway odyssey has become a modern classic of travel literature. Here Theroux recounts his early adventures on an unusual grand continental tour. Asia's fabled trains -- the Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Frontier Mail, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express, the Trans-Siberian Express -- are the stars of a journey that takes him on a loop eastbound from London's Victoria Station to Tokyo Central, then back from Japan on the Trans-Siberian. Brimming with Theroux's signature humor and wry observations, this engrossing chronicle is essential reading for both the ardent adventurer and the armchair traveler.

Israel & the Palestinian Territories (Country Guide)

Michael Kohn

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

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Inaccurate information 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is the first time that I have used the Lonely Planet series and it may be the last. I found that the restaurants recommended were mediocre, the lodging descriptions were only vaguely accurate and worst of all, the directions for finding the cafes & internet access was both poorly done and at times completely inaccurate. I will admit that the fact that the guide listed internet cafes, etc was quite nice. In addition, I thought that the description of the history and sites was quite helpful. However, if you instead choose the guide by Eyewitness Travel, you will find excellent descriptions and pictures of the sites and, in my experience, better restaurant and lodging recommendations.

Editorial Review:

Discover Israsel and the Palestinian Territories

Listen for church bells and the call to prayer as the golden light of late afternoon illuminates Jerusalem.
Dig your feet into the sand at a Tel Aviv beachside bar.
Tend organic vegetables and fertilize your mind at Kibbutz Lotan.
Start a conversation in the West Bank - how do you pickle olives?

In This Guide

Six authors, 234 days of research, 12 army roadblocks, countless falafels.
History and Environment chapters by renowned experts.
The only guidebook with detailed coverage of the West Bank and Gaza.
You asked for it, we researched it: more sustainable travel experiences than ever, from eco-hotels to hiking trips.

Turkey (Country Guide)

Verity Campbell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

american living in turkey- great guide 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Come ivsit Turkey and use Lonely Planet to help you with your tour! I have lived in Turkey for a year. The Lonely Planet goes everywhere with us...it is worn and bent and highlighted and marked up and excellent. We have been completely happy with all the suggestions from LP. Here is the thing. Turkey is a fabulous country, however, there are a few things LP cannot control.

1. The prices are inaccurate but that is not LPs fault. The Lira is very unstable and has had an outragous inflation rate. Also, you have to be good at bargaining to get a good rate and most of us Westerners are uncomforatble with this.

2. Directions/ getting around....the majority of Turks rely on public transportation. There are VERY FEW road signs if you are driving. LPs maps are great, but unfortunately hard to follow without signs. I know people are sometimes frustrated with the bus routes...they can be inconvienent and drop off in the middle of the night, and hard to find your way around if you don't speak Turkish....again not LPs fault. Just keep asking for someone who speaks English to help you and the hospitable people of Turkey will find someone.

I find LPs history background one of the best things about it. It is just enough to get you interested in seeing a place and you can supplement it by GOING to the museums. We have been 100% satisfied, but you must have realiztic expectations.

Editorial Review:

Discover Turkey

Imagine Byzantine chariot teams clashing as you cross the Hippodrome in Istanbul.
Hear the whoosh of the flame in the balloon as you float over the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia.
Tackle Yusufeli Gorge's mighty 'King Kong' rapids on the Coruh River.
Learn how to cut your raki with water to lessen a hangover.

In This Guide

Eight authors, more than 300 days of in-country research, 123 detailed maps, dozens of doner kebaps consumed.
Special trekking chapter, complete with resources section, by trekking specialist Kate Clow.
From the caravan trail to tips for daredevils, explore Turkey your own way with our in-depth itineraries.
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