West Africa (Multi Country Guide)
by Anthony Ham
List Price:
Our Price: $19.89
You Save: $12.10 (38%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $18.54 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Anthony HamEdition: Paperback
Published: 2006-10-01
ISBN: 1740597710
Number of pages: 904
Publisher: Lonely Planet
Book Reviews of West Africa (Multi Country Guide)
Book Review: Decent info, but presented awkwardly.
Summary: 3 Stars
This is an adequate guide, but was disappointing in a few areas. Firstly, it is not geared to someone making a comprehensive West Africa trip but rather reads like a collection of individual country guides. It's OK if you are going to just fly in a hang out in a single country, but planning cross border itineraries is a chore. There could be better integration for the area.
Secondly, using the maps and references to them is a bit taxing. Place names that would likely be obsure to the reader are presented in the text without specifying country or area; the only way to figure out where or how is to scan maps randomly for some idea of specifically where they are talking about. Place names are often referred to with different spellings, or more colloquially, in the text than on the maps, making finding them once again a tiring guessing game. There is a lack of consistency. Beyond that, the maps are small and lacking in detail. In other words, you can sort it all out, but this guide makes you work harder than you should have to. You get the feeling that it needed to be proofed once more.
I agree with the accusations of ethnocentrism mentioned previously, but I've grown used to it in LP guides, and in a way appreciate seeing the author's predjudices up front.
Use this guide and you'll have a fine trip, I think, but you'll spend too many hours wrestling logistic details from the text when you could be perusing the fun stuff.
I use LP, Rough Guide, and Moon guides alternately when I travel. Actually, I usually buy all three, study them all before departure, and take the one I think is most useful. I have not found any one brand to be consistently better or worse, it varies by area and author. In this case I think the Rough Guide is much better. It very neatly addresses all my reservations above, and with a better layout.
Summary of West Africa (Multi Country Guide)
Salt caravans in the Sahara, imposing forts on the Ghanaian coast, urban buzz in Lagos, the steamy lushness of Casamance- West Africa's attractions are as diverse as they are intriguing. Whether you want to set out for Timbuktu, laze on a sandy beach or overland it from desert to jungle, Lonely Planet shows you the what, where and how.Move To The Groove - our expert music chapter tell who's who, where it's happening and what's hot.
Be Inspired - highlights, itineraries and planning sections help you plot your path.
Get The Background with in-depth discussion of West Africa's history, manifold cultures and distinctive arts and crafts.
Talk The Talk - our language chapter will have you greeting locals in 25 regional languages.
Go Your Own Way with detailed transport information and 150 user-friendly maps.
General Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in My Africa
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dreamby Barack Obama
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2007-11-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.84
Price in other shops:
The World Without Usby Alan Weisman
Thomas Dunne Books; Published: 2007-07-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.49
Price in other shops:
Birds of West Africa (Collins Field Guides)by W. Serle, Gerard J. Morel, W. Hartwig
Harpercollins Pub Ltd; Published: 1999-06; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Larger Birds of West Africaby D. A. Bannerman
Penguin Books; Published: 1958; Paperback; Book
Think Global: West Africa UnwiredRelease date: 2006-09-15; Music CD
Best price: $9.26
Price in other shops:
Music in West Africa: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture (Global Music Series)by Ruth M. Stone
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2004-08-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.91
Price in other shops:
Myth and Reality in the Rain Forest: How Conservation Strategies Are Failing in West Africaby John F. Oates
University of California Press; Published: 1999-10-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.48
Price in other shops:
The Rainforests of West Africa: Ecology - Threats - Conservationby Claude Martin
Birkhauser; Published: 1991; Hardcover; Book
The Rainforests of West Africa: Ecology, Threats, and Protectionby Claude Martin
Birkhauser; Published: 1991-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $117.14
West Africa (Multi Country Guide)by Anthony Ham
Lonely Planet; Published: 2006-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.10
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Nigeria 2nd (Bradt Travel Guide Nigeria)by Lizzie Williams
Bradt Travel Guides; Published: 2008-06-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.50
Price in other shops:
Ghana Map by ITMB (International Travel Maps)International Travel Maps and Books; Published: 2007-06-01; Map; Book
Best price: $9.05
Price in other shops:
The Gambia & Senegal (Country Guide)by Katharina Lobeck
Lonely Planet; Published: 2006-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.69
Price in other shops:
Southern Africa (Multi Country Guide)by Alan Murphy, Kate Armstrong, Matthew Firestone, Mary Fitzpatrick, Michael Grosberg, Nana Luckham, Andy Rebold
Lonely Planet; Published: 2007-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.19
Price in other shops:
Ghana, 3rd: The Bradt Travel Guideby Philip Briggs
Bradt Travel Guides; Published: 2004-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
East Africa (Multi Country Guide)by Mary Fitzpatrick, Tom Parkinson, Nick Ray
Lonely Planet; Published: 2006-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.41
Price in other shops:
The Rough Guide to West Africa 4 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)by ROUGH GUIDES
Rough Guides; Published: 2003-12-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Mali: The Bradt Travel Guideby Ross Velton
Bradt Travel Guides; Published: 2004-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.14
Price in other shops:
Ghana, 4th (Bradt Travel Guide)by Philip Briggs
Bradt Travel Guides; Published: 2007-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.38
Price in other shops:
Lonely Planet Healthy Travel Africa (Lonely Planet Healthy Travel Guides)by Graeme Johnson
Lonely Planet; Published: 2000-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.44
Price in other shops: