Lonely Planet Iran (3rd Edition)

Book Description

From its celebrated Persian palaces and turquoise-tiled mosques to its clay-baked caravanserais and exotic bazaars, Iran has long tantalised travellers fascinated by the Islamic world. Explore all of this country's secrets - and more - with this fully updated guide.

57 detailed maps, plus a full-colour country map
illustrated sections on arts, carpets, Persepolis and Esfahan
extensive historical, political and cultural notes
the latest on border crossings, no-go areas and the best way to get around
Farsi language chapter and script for all place names

Customer Reviews:

Too many sarcastic remarks!.......2007-03-22

I am surprised that the Lonely Planet allowed the publication of this guide book; the authors would have looked more objective if they had reduced the number of sarcastic remarks. I am also concerned that the authors highlighted too many warnings to lone female travelers; Iran is one of the safest countries for male and lone female travelers of any nationality. As the authors accurately report, Iranians are hospitable to the point of embarrassment. Please consider purchasing the 2006 edition of this guide instead, as the authors were changed.

Indispensible guide written by Islamophobes for Islamophobes.......2005-03-20

The overwhelming impression one gets when reading Pat Yale's contributions to this book are that here we have a woman who, due to her own ill-founded preconceptions, has almost completely failed to understand and appreciate the beauty of the culture into which she finds herself immersed. As a result, her comments regarding Iranian culture come across as being crude and disrespectful, often obnoxious, and even downright racist. Perhaps as a Westerner she cannot help being the way she is, but if that is the case, what on earth is she doing going to Iran in the first place, and what kind of an authority is she to write a travel guide?

For example, in the section on p.51 entitled "The Iranian Way of Life", we are forced, amongst other things, to put up with the unnecessary snide comment, "It's a rare husband... who would as much as carry a dirty dish to the sink, let alone do any housework" - now would this not just as aptly describe a typical British or American husband (perhaps even her own?), who would rather spend his evenings down the local pub with his mates - and who will later urinate on someone's wall on the way home, while singing loudly and hurling abuse at innocent passers-by? And then there are the ridiculous comments about rising divorce rates - which the author idiotically puts down to the existence of arranged marriages, failing completely to realise that the divorce rates in countries where arranged marriages are prevalent are MUCH lower than in the West where pre-marital sexual promiscuity is taken for granted. If she had half a brain, she would have reached exactly the opposite conclusion - that it is the gradual Westernisation of Iran that was leading to the increase in divorce rates (which is presumably one of the many reasons that they would rather do without the rapidly spreading disease of Westernisation - and if the satellite TV propaganda machine fails, there are always the bombs, eh?). And the section ends with the stereotypical and spitefully Islamophobic comment, "These days it's a rare man who can afford to take up his Islamic right to have four wives".

And she does rant on and on about the oppressive hijab that she has been forced to wear, and the segregation between men and women. Sadly for her, the author does not appreciate the beauty of a society in which modesty and piety are valued so greatly. Rather, the author (deducing that all Iranian men must be sexually repressed) expresses her surprise at not having been fondled! She did in passing mention the fact that she was treated with great dignity as a lone woman while queing for her visa extension, but apparently failed to see past her veil enough to realise that this elevated respect for women permeates the whole of Islamic culture. And she would do well to note that it is precisely this modesty which makes arranged marriages work so well (in complete contradistinction to the misguided promiscuity and sexual freedom in the West, which effectively renders marriage meaningless and leads them to fail).

So the result is a book which is technically sound and reasonably comprehensive, interspersed with the most ourageous Islamophobic/Iranophobic Western hate propaganda - an irritating and unusual combination which leaves you wanting to kick [...] Perfect then, for your stereotypical FOX-News/CNN-educated American tourist, who probably should never have been let out of the country in the first place.

Until something better comes along (perhaps a new edition completely rewritten by someone who actually ENJOYS being in Iran and APPRECIATES its culture), then unfortunately this otherwise dubious piece of hate-literature remains a useful guide.

[If the spiteful comments get too much, simply striking through the offending paragraphs/pages with a thick black marker pen may help].

Racist Commentary But with Good Maps.......2003-08-29

Racist commentary presented in backhanded journo-speak that is unfortunately typical of english language books on Iran. Example of tactics employed - if you want to say something particularly offensive/outrageous/demeaning, deflect blame by attributing the comment to a "source" or a "reader". Hopefully actual readers with the gumption to travel to the Middle East are intelligent enough to sift through Yale's antipathetic commentary and put the book to its best use - a compact set of maps, place names and telephone numbers.

This Lonely Planet is not good.......2003-08-20

While the guide is relatively useful for hotels (prices are outdated), it is not very interesting for the restaurants nor transport (many many obvious options aren't listed), nor for other practical information as many of Pat Yale's comments are negative, predicting hassle, bureaucracy or cheating when there is only friendlyness, smiles and enough english to handle the situation.
Her comments on wearing the Hedjab are displaced. If wearing a scarf ruins your holiday to that point, are you realy the right person to write a guide book ?
Pat Yale seems to have been afraid during her trip in Iran, and annoyed by iranians. They are the most friendly people I have encourtered on my many trips. I travelled on my own, and was not pinched in the back or molestated by anyone, never. The Lonely Planet, full of comments warning lone women travellers to better take a guided tour, made me hesitating unneccesarily before my departure.
I did not appreciate her comments on the american blocus, where she pretends that other countries, including Europe and Japan, are too eager to tap on Irans ressources.
Iran and the Iranians, and you as a tourist, definitely desserve a better guide, and Lonely Planet needs more competition.

I thought this book was great..........2003-07-02

I traveled to Iran for 2 weeks earlier this year and found it fine for my needs. Some of the info was outdated (travel agents in the US, some hotel stuff, etc). I can't speak about remote areas that other reviewers mentioned, but if you are planning to visit the major areas (Tehran, Shiraz, Esfahan), the book has everything you'd need.

Lion of the Sun: A Chronicle of the Wars, Battles and Great Deeds of Pharaoh Thutmose 3rd, Great Lion of Egypt

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Lion of the Sun: A Chronicle of the Wars, Battles and Great Deeds of Pharaoh Thutmose 3rd, Great Lion of Egypt
Richard A. Gabriel
Manufacturer: iUniverse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0595297560

Book Description

Lion Of The Sun continues the saga of Thutmose III (1480Â-1426 B.C.E.) of Egypt as told by his oldest friend and scribe, Thaneni, in the chronicle entitled Warrior Pharaoh (iUniverse, 2001).

Having been denied his rightful claim to the throne by his aunt, Hatshepsut, Thutmose gained his place as king of Egypt by a military coup. Now as Pharaoh, Thutmose must deal with the threats that confront Egypt.

Lion Of The Sun is ThaneniÂ's tale of ThutmoseÂ's life as warrior king, the Great Lion of Egypt, whom history has remembered as the greatest warrior pharaoh of all time.

Footprint Egypt Handbook (Egypt Handbook, 3rd ed)

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Footprint Egypt Handbook (Egypt Handbook, 3rd ed)
Anne McLachlan , and Keith McLachlan
Manufacturer: Passport Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Footprint Handbooks | Guidebook Series | Travel | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0658010840

Book Description

From the Libyan border in the west to the coastal resorts of the Red Sea and from Alexandria to Aswan, the Footprint Egypt Handbook contains more information than any rival publication. Updated and revised by a team who know Egypt and the whole region inside out, this third edition is in the highly acclaimed Footprint paperback format. It includes highlights of Egypt with colour photography, coverage of all the "not to be missed" sites plus much more off the beaten track, Nile cruises - how to organise them and how to survive them, diving in the Red Sea in addition to colour maps to help plan your journey and keep you orientated.

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Classic...
A tragedy of sweeping proportions
I am a woman more sinned against than sinning, cries Cleopatra
Politics and passion.
Not without interest.

Antony and Cleopatra (3rd Series)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0415011027

Book Description

The Arden Shakespeare has long been acclaimed as the established scholarly edition of Shakespeare's work. Now being totally re-edited for the third time, Arden editions offer the very best in contemporary scholarship. Each volume provides a clear and authoritative text, edited to the highest standards; detailed textual notes and commentary on the same page of the text; full contextual, illustrated introduction, including an in-depth survey of critical and performance approaches to the play; and selected bibliography.

Customer Reviews:

Classic..........2007-08-26

One of the classics, what else can I say? Sure, a bit melodramatic, but this is Shakespear after all.

A tragedy of sweeping proportions.......2007-05-25

This is a tragic play of a man who has the skill and the determination to rule the world, but instead he brings himself to ruin through capitulation to desires of the flesh. Antony's love for Cleopatra is so self-destructive that he in the end has to turn to suicide to escape his downward spiral. It's not an easy play to read, but it is an important one.

I am a woman more sinned against than sinning, cries Cleopatra.......2006-02-16

A great deal of argument has been in the air during the last couple of decades over Shakespeare's rendering of the famous history of Cleopatra , the once upon a time queen of Egypt and her so- called wanton nature and habits that brought her in relation with two Roman military leaders namely ,Mark Antony and Julius Caesar .
From a purely feminist perspective, Cleopatra has been the butt of male-oriented chauvinistic attack and criticism that deemed her a `sexual glutton and `as old as sin itself `. In a male-dominated world like the one we live, woman's beauty is her scourge. No body blames the customer of the prostitute; people are always after the prostitute ,because she is a woman but the male her customer goes unpunished, he has the privilege to enjoy every thing without the least censure. Cleopatra as a matter of fact, is more sinned against than sinning; she was the victim of male-oriented criticism which saw in her an apt image of the `Other `, so why not projecting centuries-long and long-nursed grudge on her as a symbol of women ,of course not as a mother, a sister or even a wife but as a mistress who takes delight in wrecking peaceful house-holds and disrupting the coziness of family life. She is an Amazon woman or a man-eater with lewd insatiable passion that does not stop at any thing to satisfy her sexual urge
Shakespeare seems to subscribe to the above-mentioned misconceptions about Cleopatra; his is a woman , ready to do any and everything cost what it may to live in the mood of love. She shuns the business of the state and neglects her duties as a queen of a strategic country. According to Shakespeare's distorted image of history, Cleopatra's bent for sex and desire makes her interweave a web to enmesh even her arch enemies. Shakespeare does not seem to believe that true faithful love knows no boundaries. Cleopatra's love for Antony and Julius Caesar could have been true love that could have bridged gaps of difference and enmity between Egypt and Rome if not looked upon from the wrong end of perspective.
Further more, if this kind of love has been, in the eyes of those of us -the hapless romantically inclined lovers- who believe only in platonic love, sensual and momentary, the child of momentary sexual infatuation, why do we always blame the woman? - Cleopatra in this case - why do we not fix an equal share of the blame on Caesar and Antony? . In our eyes, male as they are, Cleopatra is "the belly dancer sans merci" whose magical web can not be helped and works with even the most powerful of men in the world. In the eyes of male-hegemony, woman is an object to be loved but never capable of love

Politics and passion........2004-07-27

I recently re-read ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA prior to attending The Colorado Shakespeare Festival's performance of the ambitious play under the summer stars here in Boulder. Drawn from Sir Thomas North's 1579 English version of Plutarch's Lives, William Shakespeare (1552-1616) produced this romantic tragedy late in his career, around 1607, and published it in the First Folio in 1623. It tells the story of a doomed romance between two charismatic lovers, Roman military leader, Marc Antony, and the captivating Queen of Egypt (and former mistress of Julius Caesar), Cleopatra. When his wife, Fulvia unexpectedly dies, Antony is summoned from Egypt to Rome to mend a political rift with Octavius by marrying his recently widowed sister, Octavia. Of course, this news enrages passionate Cleopatra. She vents her anger on the messenger, but is quick to realize that Octavia is no real rival to her when it comes to beauty. However, Antony soon follows his heart back to Cleopatra's arms, abandoning his new wife in Athens. This leads to war, when Octavius declares war on Egypt. After Octavius eventually defeats Antony at Alexandria, Cleopatra sends a false report of her suicide, which prompts Antony to wound himself mortally. Antony dies in his lover's arms, and rather than submit to Roman rule under the new Caesar (Octavius), the heart-broken Cleopatra asks to have a poisonous snake delivered to her in a basket of figs. In the end, ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA is as much about new sparks re-igniting the flames of love as new political forces supplanting old political regimes. It is a play that reminds me that it is perhaps better to re-read and understand Shakespeare than to devour one bestseller after the next.

G. Merritt

Not without interest........2004-04-13

Not one of Shakespeare's more memorable works, there are some pluses to this play and relatively few minuses, but neither the pluses nor the minuses are anything that stands out. It is nice to have yet another play told in Shakespeare's beautiful language, and enjoyable to see a love story that centers on people old enough to no longer be in the first blush of youth, even if they ARE still young enough to be beautiful and virile. On the other hand, I'd have liked to see these more mature lovers BEHAVING somewhat more maturely, instead of being just as frivolous, headstrong, and foolish as the kids in "Romeo And Juliet", and there really aren't any lines from this play that come immediately to mind as having entered the "Quotes Hall Of Fame", as so many lines from Shakespeare's plays have. Nothing on the order of "A horse! My Kingdom for a horse!" or "Alas, poor Yorick; I knew him well." or "To be or not to be, that is the question", or so many others.

Book Description

Ancient even to the ancients, Egypt was a great nation a thousand years before the Minoan civilization was established in Crete. It was viewed by the Greeks and Romans of 2,000 years ago with the same awe with which we view ancient Rome and Greece today. A visit to Egypt is like a journey back in time, but the country offers much more than just its history. Made up almost entirely of desert, Egypt owes its past, present and future to a single body of water, the river Nile. This well-researched guide leads the reader on a journey through the ages from the tombs of the Pharoahs to the modern engineering feats of the Suez Canal and the mighty Aswan Dam. An excellent introduction to the most endlessly fascinating civilization in the world. * A guide to the fascination of one of the most ancient civilzations * Practical and informative on the best of Egypt's treasures * Beautifully illustrated by an internationally renowned photographer * Carefully chosen literary excerpts add to the historical perspective

Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk eras: Proceedings of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd international colloquium organized at the Katholieke Universiteit ... and 1994 (Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta)

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Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk eras: Proceedings of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd international colloquium organized at the Katholieke Universiteit ... and 1994 (Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta)

Manufacturer: Uitgeverij Peeters
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Egypt | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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Egypt and the Levant: Interrelations from the 4th Through the Early 3rd Millennium Bce (New Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology)

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Egypt and the Levant: Interrelations from the 4th Through the Early 3rd Millennium Bce (New Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology)

Manufacturer: Leicester University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Egypt | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

Jordan | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

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As good as you can get right now
A substantive compendium of practical travel advice
The best guide to Egypt ever!
Marvellous practical, historical and cultural guide

Egypt, 3rd (Cadogan Regional Guides)
Michael Haag
Manufacturer: Cadogan Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Lonely Planet Egyptian Arabic Phrasebook

ASIN: 1860111637

Book Description

Hieroglyphics, pyramids, pharaohs--all icons for which Egypt is rightly famous. But with the help of this fully updated guide from Cadogan, travelers will discover that Egypt's living present is just as exciting as its fascinating past. Cairo may be one of the world's finest medieval cities, but it is also a vibrant metropolis, where they can shop at smart designer boutiques as well as bargain for goods in the traditional bazaar. Author Michael Haag's in-depth commentary brings Egypt's history to life as they pass through the Valley of the Kings; examine the Ptolemiac temples at Esna, Edfu, and Kon Ombo; and take in the world's oldest monasteries in the Wadi Naturn. From reef diving and off-road adventures to a trip down the Nile and riding through desert landscapes, this guide contains all the information to make the trip to Egypt an unforgettable experience.

Customer Reviews:

As good as you can get right now.......2007-03-08

While it lacks the depth of a Blue Guide, this book is a helpful tool for negotiating many of Egypts sites. We used it for our 8 day trip to Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel, and it served us well as an addition to the Lonely Planet guidebook.

A substantive compendium of practical travel advice .......2005-02-04

Michael Haag's Egypt is a substantive compendium of practical travel advice noting more than 240 hand-picked places for the traveler to stay, as well as over 150 quality tested restaurants, bars and cafes. Enhanced with color maps of Egypt and the city center of Cairo, 47 additional maps and site plans, full coverage of the new, state-of-the-art library at Alexandria, and a completely revised chapter on Nubia (including full details of cruise itineraries on Lake Nasser), and with a thoroughly "reader friendly" and eloquent text, Egypt is the complete, comprehensive, dependable, portable, indispensable travel guide recommended to tourists, businessmen, students, and anyone else planning a trip to the fabled lands, cities, and monuments of Egypt.

The best guide to Egypt ever!.......2000-01-07

Not since the famous Baedeker guide of 1929 has someone written such a comprehensive and lucid book about Egypt. Michael Haag writes with reassuring authority -- clearly he knows and loves the country well -- and with an eye for revealing detail and with a narrative ability that makes this book as enjoyable to read and as unputdownable as a good novel. This is the book to take with you to Egypt, and to read before you go and after you have returned. You could have no better companion.

Marvellous practical, historical and cultural guide.......1999-11-28

The only way to really know the value of a guide book is to use it, and that is what I most thoroughly did during my five weeks of travel through Egypt. A marvellous book! A comprehensive, assured and thoroughly readable historical and cultural account of five thousand years of civilization, as well as being entirely practical for the traveler in every respect, so that whether concerning accommodations or ways of moving about the country or where to eat or to shop, I came to trust Mr Haag entirely. A trip to Egypt is the journey of a lifetime and you owe it to yourself to have with you this incomparable companion.

Eine Aegyptische Konigstochter (Dritter (3rd) Band)

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Eine Aegyptische Konigstochter (Dritter (3rd) Band)
Georg Ebers
Manufacturer: Deutsche Verlags-Anhalt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Egypt | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: B000J453SQ

Product Description

Georg Moritz Ebers (18371898), German Egyptologist and novelist, discovered the Egyptian medical papyrus, of ca 1550 BCE, at Luxor (Thebes) in the winter of 187374. Now in the library of the University of Leipzig, the Ebers papyrus is among the most important ancient Egyptian medical papyri. It is one of two of the oldest preserved medical documents anywhere, the other main source being the Edwin Smith papyrus (c. 1600 BCE). Ebers early conceived the idea of popularizing Egyptian lore by means of historical romances. Eine ägyptische Königstochter was published in 1864 and obtained great success. His subsequent works of the same kindUarda (1877), Homo sum (1878), Die Schwestern (1880), Der Kaiser (1881), of which the scene is laid in Egypt at the time of Hadrian, Serapis (1885), Die Nilbraut (1887), and Kleopatra (1894), were also well received, and did much to make the public familiar with the discoveries of Egyptologists. Ebers also turned his attention to other fields of historical fictionespecially the 16th century (Die Frau Bürgermeisterin, 1882; Die Gred, 1887)without, however, attaining the success of his Egyptian novels.

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Why Was this Book Published?

History of Egypt (3rd Edition)
Vatikiotis
Manufacturer: Weidenfeld & Nicholson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 029778742X

Customer Reviews:

Why Was this Book Published?.......2001-12-24

We all know research is the grunt side of a book. Writing, on the other hand, requires a minimal dose of artistic talent that few of us have been bestowed with. While finding Mr. Vatikiotis' breadth of information spellbinding, I encounter his narrative and style sophomoric, plain, borish, and most definitely not adequate for publishing.

Read this book only if you are thirsty for facts, but I must advise you, it's pretty insipid stuff.

Book Description

Even a loving husband cannot provide the true security that only comes through faith in God

Not even the frontier has prepared Millie for the rough life of a mining town. When her beloved husband is kidnapped, will her faith falter?

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Pioneer Trials 4 (Pioneer Trials)
F. Graves , D. Davel , and et al
Manufacturer: Juta Gariep
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0702111414

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