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Title: Lonely Planet Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan (Lonely Planet Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan)
ISBN: 0864426801
Author:
N. Wilson
D. Rowson
B. Potter
Keti Japaridze
Publicate Date: 2000-08
Publish: 2000-08
List Price: $19.99
Average Customer Rating: 1.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $18.00
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $1.14
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Review of
I've never seen this edition, but I hope this edition is better than the previous one.
That wouldn't be that hard - the last one was pretty much useless
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2: Last Lonely Planet publication I have bought
I purchase travel guides for work and have been regular buyer of Lonely Planet publications and Discovery channel's Insight Guides for virtually all Western European countries. Recent addition to the area of responsibility forced me to start looking for a guide for Azerbaijan and this was one of the items I tested.
As I am quite knowledgeable about this region, having read this guide I was seriously concerned about the inaccuracies in wording, translations, geographic references. Like that sloppiness was not bad enough, the authors go on to "sneak in" some political statements by putting Nagorno Karabakh under Armenia (I assume LP would not be a part of this, had they know). While this is a disputed region, neither party to the conflict believes it is apart of Armenia, so the authors are taking a bit of a political license, by doing what would be similar to listing Taiwan under United States.
This is an eye-opener. Travel guides, by their nature, require that the reader had faith in the publisher's reputation. With this book I have a benefit of an insider knowledge...and if this is the standard, then I have permanently lost all faith...LP failed miserably... my rating is Zero. You are better off picking up a local tourist board publication at the Baku International, at least it will tell you of all the cheap hotels that have mushroomed over the last few years.
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3: Another dent in LP's reputation
Very poor from start to finish ! The last 10 years LP has published several very average books. I used to like LP a lot but I now prefer Rough Guide, Trailblazer or Footprint. I think LP's main mistake with this book was that they wanted to publish a guide to this region at all costs, just to fill the blank spots on their world map. How were these authors selected ? Many would do a better job. LP books used to be written by fellow travellers who knew what other travellers were looking for when travelling. Why are there e.g. so few (cheap)hotels listed ? I found an affordable place to stay in every town I visited. With a little bit of effort, the practical information would have been much better. Leave this book at home, better buy Mark Elliot's book for Azerbaijan (and Georgia) or the Bradt guide to Georgia (Burford) or consult Raffi Kojian's excellent website for Armenia.
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4: unsuccessful attempt, needs more work, buy Elliott instead!
This is the first guide to represent all three caucasian nations in one book. However it does not take into account the sensitivity of some of the issues among the three nations and could have been much more accurate. Nagorno Karabakh is still de jure a part of Azerbaijan and including it in armenian section contributes even more to widening the gap between the two nations. Nagorno Karabakh indeed is a very sensitive subject and i would urge the unsophisticated visitor to do some extensive research prior to making conclusions. I am not surprised to find the armenian reviewer insulting the Georgian and the Azeri one. What can you do: armenian extreme national chauvinism blinds them. Indeed, if you look at the map of caucasus and do some research you will notice that armenia has problems with each one of its neighbors except for Iran. This is the kind of discussion that LP book leads us towards and to avoid it i urge everyone interested in the region to turn to Elliot book.
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5: Not this one!
I normally like LP books. But for this region you should instead buy the Bradt Guide (for Georgia) or the one from Trailblazer (for Azerbaijan & Georgia). The reasons are clear from all the other reviews here!
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