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1: An excellent read
I thought the most hostile review of this book was unreasonable. I worked in Mongolia for several years and found plenty in it that I had not known before. It doesn't set out to be comprehensive and it isn't -it's weak on matters nomadic - but it is both informative and entertaining. I would certainly recommend it.
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2: A poor travel book with outdated mentality
As a reader who spends most of his time in Asia and who visited Mongolia a few times, I agree that what the author has written is mostly true--only on the surface. So I am not surprised that other Western readers who never had a chance to be in Mongolia or Asia would think the book highly. However, if you are a reader who reads it closely based on abundant knowledge of Asia and world politics, you will find that the book is simply inferior graffiti that midleads western readers.
One of the things I feel especially absurd was the author's frequent use of "Red China", "Communist China" to refer to this big neighbor of Mongolia. The author is either a fool who does not really know what he is talking about or he is deliberately cheating his English readers. The Cold War was over almost two decades ago. China is a capitalist country except that it is a one-party state whose political power happened to be monopolied by a party that still calls itself "Communist Party." There are also a long list of other common-sense mistakes or purposeful distortions in this book about Mongolia or world politics that I want to spare my time to point out one by one here.
If the author wants to write more about Asia or any book about international politics, I seriously suggest that he reads more books before he picks up his pen or turns on his computer. He can help protect the natural environment by not wasting the precious paper on his ugly graffiti. He can even make a greater contribution to a healthy and clean publication environment by not producing misleading, highly prejudiced or cheating rubbish. I thank the author for doing these!
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3: A very good read whether you plan to travel to Mongolia or not
A most fascinating journey into the otherwise mysterious world of Mongolia. Kohn has a keen sense of the land, the history, and the people and is able to convey it to readers in a way that is at some points heart-breaking and at others inspirational; all the time being engaging, humorous when appropriate, and tremendously insightful.
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4: A blend of travelogue and cultural understanding
Any reader looking for a blend of travelogue and cultural understanding will find Dateline Mongolia: An American Journalist in Nomad's Land fits the bill. It tells of the author's journeys through Mongolia and its cultural milieu, from turf wars between lamas and shamans to falcon poachers and exiled Buddhist leaders and child jockeys. His first-person encounters with the peoples of Mongolia bring to life the nation's peoples and culture like no other: any general lending collection strong in travel and cultural exploration - particular Asian cultures - will want this.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
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5: A fascinating insight into a very different place
I was sent this book to read and started it in earnest, having not read much travel literature before. I enjoyed it from start to finish. Michael Kohn adopts a very conversational style to tell his story and each episode is told well. He illustrates all the people he met with such detail that by the end you feel you know them and I was heartened to read that he married one of his friends whom he met out there.
Michael tells the story of Mongolia from the cities to the steppes and includes some interesting insights into its political history including its sometimes painful transition from Soviet Communism to a free-market economy. In this reviewer's opinion it made that transition quite well with little of the corruption of the ex-Soviet states to the West.
In short this book brought a whole culture and country to my attention which I had never thought existed; believing as I did that Mongolia was much like an outpost of China. For seasoned travellers and armchair enthusiasts alike, this book will interest you.
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