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.A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference and Tips
by: Tony Horwitz

April 29, 2008
Having just read " Cities of Gold " which covered in great details the spanish exploration in the Southwest U.S., I enjoyed reading more about East Coast Voyages of discovery. The author uses an easy and often humorous way of describing the events. In short it is an easy to read and informative bookA Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World
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.The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference and Tips
by: Candice Millard

October 10, 2006
Fastpaced account of the South American River journey that hastened TRs early death a few years later. What started out as a sight-seeing trip turned into a journey of exploration of the River of Doubt--then the official name of a river nearly a thousand miles long that had never been mapped. Ex-President Teddy was invited to make the journey casually by Brazilian politicians, and when he accepted, the team of leaders and Brazilian Telegraph workers ended up on a journey that involved deaths, capsized dugout canoes, and Indian encounters any of which could have left the entire team dead.

As it was, TR became deathly ill from an infection and malaria, and in fact at one point he told the team to go forward without him so he could ... Read More:
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.Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference and Tips
by: Brad Matsen

October 01, 2008
[ASIN:1410410951 Titanic's Last Secrets (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series)]]Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler

Excellent book! I couldn't stop reading until I found out what the new discovery was about the famous Titanic.
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.In a Sunburned Country
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference and Tips
by: Bill Bryson

May 15, 2001
I read this book before returning to Australia after forty years. I'd been there as an exchange student in 1967 and returned in 2008 with my grown son, for two weeks. I'd asked my son to read it to after I finished so that he'd have an idea what Australia was about. Bryson reports fairly and with humor. Even though it's been a while since it was written, what he wrote still holds true, although we found the music in public transportation in South Australia was all the way up to the 1980s, not the 1950s!

My only gripe with the book is his editorializing about how Australia has treated the Anangu (aboriginals). Americans have no moral high ground to stand on with respect to how we've treated native peoples. And while I do not pretend any expertise in the history ... Read More:
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.Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference and Tips
by: Rolf Potts

December 24, 2002
I have not yet applied what I learned from this book, but it has inspired me to get going. Anyone can explore the world, and it doesn't take a lot of money.
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.We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference and Tips
by: Harold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway

August 19, 2008
Certainly no one can question the courage or loyalty of Lt. Gen Moore or that of his co-writer Mr. Gallagher. However don't expect to read another Soldiers Once....this is a review of Gen Moore's return to Viet Nam. I'm not sure everyone would equivocate the North Vietnamese, with the troops of the American force as the General seems to do here. Whether we should forgive and forget, that they were just good ol' boys doing their job, would seem to me to be up to those who were there also to decide. It would seem that there would be those who are not willing to forget and forgive so easily as the General seems to do. However this should be recommended reading for any young person....well worth the time.
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.Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference and Tips
by: Rick Steves

2003-05
I don't speak any Italian, so this guidebook was a bit of a lifesaver. I don't like to refer to books when I'm trying to experience the culture, but it was nice to be able to review this at the end of the day or in the morning before we started the day. I tried to learn a few important phrases and feel my way through the rest. We visited Venice, and most people in Venice do speak English. While I can confidently speak French, Italian is quite different (more akin to Spanish). I love the pronunciation guides; they were most helpful.
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.Dry Storeroom No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference and Tips
by: Richard Fortey

August 19, 2008
About a month ago, (September 2008) I had a chance to hear Richard Fortey himself lecturing about this book. The lecture, very fittingly, was happening in a natural history museum. As his lecture unfolded, I found myself with many of the most interesting characters that have ever contributed to natural history, both famous and obscure. I also learned about what goes on behind the scenes of the museum, and of some of the many interesting and strange specimens which are not on display, such as an "accursed amethyst" and the famous rock from Mars which is said by some to contain fossils. After the lecture was over, I went home and started reading the book, and found the written account of these things and people to be just as engaging as it was to hear Richard Fortey speaking. It is like recieving ... Read More:
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.The Places In Between
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference and Tips
by: Rory Stewart

May 08, 2006

It's amazing that anyone would even attempt this... walking across Afganistan in the winter with a war going on. It is quite staggering, how many different ways he could die... war casualty, fights with officials, accidents, frostbite/exposure, starvation, food poisoning...

The desolate landscape is hard to envision, although the photos helped. How does one step forward in 4 feet of snow? Temperatures are cited well below zero at night, so besides unease provoked by well armed people he's sleeping with, how does he sleep with undoubtedly cold wet feet?

The descriptions do not bring the walk, the towns or the people alive. Abdul Haq was the only character drawn in a memorable way. Stewart comes to know others, be they guards, hosts or aid workers that surely had a ... Read More:
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.The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World
City Travel Guides > Books > Reference and Tips
by: Eric Weiner

January 03, 2008
Taking a trip in the back pocket of a skeptic trying to find out where and why people are happy is sheer bliss. Eric Weiner not only knows the art of description, he knows about meaningful travel and how to write a engrossing tale. The book is NEVER boring or repetitious. It moves and flows and shines. In case you can't tell, I loved it!
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