– Customer review on 04/12/2010

In this large-sized pictorial, Lonely Planet takes you for a quick trip through each country in Asia (minus Russia). Each entry contains dazzling photographs, most featuring the people of Asia rather than scenery, and several paragraphs providing basic information about each country and/or a few fun facts.

The book is worth buying, or at least perusing, simply for the fine photography. Lonely Planet does a great job of visually exposing the reader to the diversity of Asia's people without descending too often into the sentimental or cliche. One really does get the sense of having a traveler's-eye view of the countries (albeit without the less scenic elements one would certainly encounter in real life). The writing is, on the other hand, merely adequate. The country descriptions are so brief as to be of little use. The additional commentary provided for each country can be, at times, pithy, but just as often is formulaic or bland. That said, coffee table picture books do not require fine writing when the photography is sufficient to tell the book's story. You'll find this book reminds you of the vacations you should have taken that the photography you wish you could have produced.