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 enlarge | Author: Lonely Planet Publications
Publisher: Lonely Planet
Category: Book
List Price: $50.00
Buy New: $27.95
You Save: $22.05 (44%)
New (32) Used (9) from $24.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 144709
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 428
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5.3
Dimensions (in): 12.1 x 9.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 1741047315
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.91732
EAN: 9781741047318
ASIN: 1741047315
Publication Date: March 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New book, unread. Only very slight shelf wear. Pages are crisp, clean and tightly bound. Email any questions.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Not the strongest work in the Lonely Planet series. February 2, 2007
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
Actually, I'd rate this book 3.5 stars, but not 4. Nice photos. Useful information, but just not what I was looking for when I have seen lots of Lonely Planet work.
 Waste of Time; Waste of Money January 14, 2007
9 out of 20 found this review helpful
This book is a total waste of time! Both the writing and photography is uninspired. You really have to question the abilities and biases of the writers/editors who chose cities such as Maputo (Mozambique) where the negative include "street crime, dodgy police officers, poverty and lawless drivers", and Pyongyang, which is in North Korea. One of the listed weaknesses here is "bugged hotel rooms" and that "you can't leave the hotel without a guide". These two gems made Lonely Planet's list of best cities in the world, yet great places like Santa Fe, Boston, Victoria (Canada), Bergen (Norway), Menton (France), and Lucca (Italy) were left off the list! My suspicion is that the editors at Lonely Planet wanted to give equal time to a lot of places in the third world, even if the truth is that some of the cities listed there are places most travelers/tourists would never want to go to. It may be politically uncorrect to say so, but I think that it's true.
Anyhow, I am so glad that I was able to get this book from the library so that I did not waste any of my hard-earned money on it!
 WOW!!!! January 9, 2007
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
A must buy. The photographs are fantastic. The topics are neat and so interesting. I especially like the surprises of each city. Great Coffee table book. I can visit each city vicariously.
Great coffee table book January 4, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Inspires new travel ideas, allows you to reminisce about past travels.
This book is a joke! November 5, 2006
28 out of 109 found this review helpful
Normally, Lonely Planet is hands down the best in travel guidebooks and literature. When LP published "The Cities Book" recently they reversed that trend. Once again the liberal writers have found every possible opportunity to take shameless cheap shots at conservatism not just in the US this time but in just about every country in the world. The pro and cons are great for a 60's gay, pot-smoking, big business protesting, secular, Green peace loving, socialist, tree hugging, anti-Christian, vegan hippy. Of course everyone agrees that meat hardy meals are a big con for restaurants but yet vegan friendly. This is coming from the same book which lists cultural traditions as a pro but traditional dishes (heaven forbid they have meat) are a con. Just tell a third world country, "Your thousand year traditions are a pro but as long as they fellow our loony liberalism". The writers should just say patriotism is unacceptable for any country to have. Sarajevo lists "nationalism" as a con. Luxembourg lists a con of "conservative attitudes". These are not true pros or cons at all but more of the personal disagreements of each city's public opinion .
Would it really matter to a the world traveler whether or not we know about Lonely Planet's personal political views? How about listing some pros and cons about it city that are actually relevant towards visiting or living there?
The only surprising aspect of the entire book is that Amsterdam is not rated #1. Who would of thought the worldwide Mecca for liberals didn't receive enough praise following the theme in which this book is written. If you don't believe me look at a pro for Amsterdam; "Liberal attitudes(world's first homosexual marriage and legal euthanasia). Of course! We all agree that is a tremendous pro for a city to have. Thank god I know Amsterdam legalized euthanasia, that is really going to come in handy when I visit. Although Amsterdam does get a gold star for "Liberal attitudes", surprisingly it is not #1 for the Lonely Planet publishers. The authors are quite simply too blinded by their own ideology to produce an honest book about the great cities of the world.
Would this book be a good educational reference for children? Highly doubt it. The pictures are full of nude sunbathers, topless women painted in "body art", transvestites, and people drinking at a bar on every other page. Is that really the best photos you can find that would represent a famous city that has so much more to offer?
From the laughable pros and cons to the complete butchery of some great cities such as Austin. Out of all the pictures of the great city of Austin all LP could come up with is a picture of "where will the chicken poop", someone eating chicken, a dog fashion show, and a women getting a tattoo on her thigh.
By the end of reading "The Cities Book" you can move on to "Das Kapital" next. Read between the lines not so carefully and you will see the anti-capitalism all over the pages. The Havana page shows a man with Hugo Chavez and a shackle and hammer captioned with "A cool commie shows off his true colors". "The Cities Book" is a clear attempt to discredit cities who do not share the same liberal ideological views as the publishers and want us readers to have the impression that that city is "bad" or has many negative aspects because of it.
Point overall else is; this book is very laughable from Pros & Cons to the pictures "representing" each city. Don't waste your time or money unless you choose to see the world through Howard Dean's eyes and not from your own.
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