Product Description: In the first travel guide to countries that really need one, professional adventurer Robert Young Pelton and international war correspondent Coskun Aral report on 23 war zones, 18 remote and unexplored regions, 16 forbidden regions, and over 100 areas and activities that make people fear for their lives. Photos; maps.
Amazon.com Review: The indispensable guide for the intrepid adventurer -- a book some governments don't want you to read. Pelton, a professional adventurer, and Aral, an international war correspondent, have created the only travel guide to danger and adventure. Everything you need to know about the world's hot spots -- Bosnia-Herzegovina, Liberia, Rwanda, Peru -- is right here, from the inoculations required and dangerous holidays to pencil onto your calendar to the addresses of intelligence organizations and political activist groups. If you're raring to go where angels fear to tread, this book could save your life.
Hysterical and makes one grateful On one level, this book is a crackup. It mercilessly skewers the worst places on earth, places that combine poverty, fear, and oppression. I dare you to read a single page without laughing.
On another level, this make really makes you think about the huge percentage of the world's population that doesn't have electricity, considers pain to be a second language, and considers a good day one in which you eat. It's incredible.
On the day I wrote this review, this edition is being offered for sale for one cent. An amazing bargain, in terms of entertainment per penny.
a very useful book though now slightly dated, this is still a very useful book in terms of information about the less stable parts of the world. The political coverage is smart and honest. Nothing is dumbed down or put through the filters that newspapers/magazines apply. The analysis is also short and to the point. And its often better than the professional or governmental analysis. If your entering a "bad" country on short notice, there is nothing better than this book to give an overview of the situation, the players and the basics of whats going on. But it is getting rather dated from the lack of a new edition.
The tone of the writing makes the book interesting as a "read' as well.
However, as a "travel book" to dangerous places its not all that great. The advice he gives is usually generally applicable to any travel to any place. Anywhere can be dangerous and its possible to get into trouble in what seems like safe places.
Really several (long) books in one This really consists of three books. The first, and the most obvious part, t is an actual, honest-to-goodness travel guide to dangerous places. I can easily imagine reporters, security consultants, and others pulling this book off their shelf before going to an unfamiliar place.
Inevitably, there are places left out. Pelton includes the United States here, half-seriously and half tongue-in-cheek. This is all to the good, and gives readers a sense of perspective. Still, its inclusion raises all sorts of questions. What makes the US dangerous is gun crime in some areas, which rates it one star (consistently with other countries such as India). But . . . the rates of gun crime are higher in most of Latin America, and kidnaping is much more common. In other words, if you're going to include the US, then Brazil and especially Mexico should have been in the book, along with many of their neighbors. Clearly his rating of the US reflects a pose more than a serious rating.
The second "book" here is a quick-and-dirty summary of the politics and society of these dangerous places. These summaries have information but tend to have rather more attitude. Pelton tries to be cool, tries to assign blame for conflicts in a non-standard way, and likes to review who-did-what-to-whom facts more than underlying causes.
The third "book" is a summary of issues that make places dangerous, such as the drug trade. This is more informative than the country summaries, but also displays a lot of attitude.
Much of the attitude in this book makes it quite funny. The book looks like an almanac or encyclopedia, but you can actually read in through straight. Over a long period.
It's a great read despite its length. Bring it to a dangerous place and throw it at your enemies.
Disclaimer: the US aside, the only "dangerous place" I've been is the Balkans, and I wasn't in the dangerous parts, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of the information on the ground.
Dangerous Places - Rated You just do not know how lucky you have it until you read this book. I call it the places most likely not to be in my passport.
Great read. A must for the adventurer (armchair or real).
Loved it The expanse and effort they took to writing this book is awesome, especially if one is dumb enough to actually wanna go to these places.
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