Book Description:

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Take a journey through every country in the world. 850 images. 230 countries. One complete picture.

With details of every United Nations-approved country in the world, and a few more principalities and dependencies besides, Lonely Planet's Travel Book is the ultimate introduction to a world of travel and the essential travel reference book for every household!

Each country is profiled by Lonely Planet's expert authors and features details of when to visit, what to see and do, and how to learn more about the country's culture from its film, music, food and drink. Every entry has a map and statistics about the country.

All brand new, incredible photography illustrates each country, depicting what life is like in each nation from photographic portraits of people, beautiful landscape photographs and vibrant street photography.

This premium packaged 448-page book with beautiful rainbow foil on the cover will make an impressive gift.

Buy the Book:  Amazon.com  ~  Amazon.ca

Our Review:

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

The Travel Book is a stunning 10X14 inch coffee table book that my family and I enjoyed exploring. The book begins with an introduction that explains what the travel book is. The publisher includes countries in the United Nations' list of member states and foreign dependencies that are popular traveller destinations, for a total of 230 countries. The countries are presented in alphabetical order and each country is given a two-page spread regardless of its size, popularity or history. There is also a two-page spread of the world map at the front of the book with all the countries identified.

On the two-page spread of each country are three large photographs that depict the beauty of that country, from its people to its landmarks. There are a total of 850 photos. We found that these photos are unique because in many instances they depict the people of that country caught in a moment of their everyday living, such as cooking, playing, gardening, working, etc. Yes, some of the photos are iconic, but for the most part they are unique and original, making this book a joy to flip through. 

Each two-page spread of the country also contains facts about that country, best time to visit, top things to see, trademarks, and other info. What I liked the most was the section titled, Getting Under the Skin, which lists books, movies, music, food and drink that is from that country. This gives readers something they can look up and do to learn more about that country. This gave me the idea to start from the beginning and do this for every country in the book, look up a book or movie and continue my education of the world cultures.

Parents can use this book in homeschooling or just to educate their children on world cultures. It can help to instil a love of people and respect for different cultures and races. This book can be used when doing projects or assignments on different countries. It can be used when deciding on where to go on vacation. I took the time to show this book to my parents who exclaimed it was a beautiful book. They were very impressed. My dad in particular loved looking through the photographs and remarking on them.

Books are the gateway to a better education and Lonely Planet has published a beautiful book that educates, stimulates and opens up the curiosity for our need to explore and discover. This book is an excellent addition to any home and school library and can teach much just by opening a few pages. It is a conversation starter and well worth the investment. One of the best photography books I've seen that is able to showcase all the countries of the world in one book.

Disclosure: Thanks to Raincoast Books for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, gift and lifestyle books and stationery, as well as an award-winning website, magazines, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet's mission is to enable curious travellers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves in. Visit www.lonelyplanet.com for more info and to see more stunning travel books.