Baechtold's Best: Afghanistan: the Ultimate Visual Travel Guide

By Claude Baechtold

Book Overview

Created using images and maps, this book introduces the traveller to the best of what each country has to offer. It consists of four categories of destinations, accompanied by a map to get you there. These guides are created on the premise that one good photograph and an address are enough to point the intrepid traveller in the right direction.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 081099223X
• ISBN13: 9780810992238
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Abrams Image
• Length: 88 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.9" x 0.3" x 6.5"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

A great idea for a book

I loved this book. The photographers focused on the ordinary, rather than the idealized, and let's face it: when we travel we're going to be dealing with the ordinary. I have not been to Afghanistan but a friend of mind has and when I showed him this book he liked it. This book gets the "look" of the place, warts and all. Of course, it is not a per se guidebook but more of a supplement to more tradional guides. I look forward to future books in this series.

Wonderful and quirky, beautiful graphic design

This is a great little book, perfect for a coffee table. An in-depth travel guide it is not, but nor is it intended to be. The photos are wonderful, and the design and concept are really imaginative. If you're looking for eye-catching graphic design, along with inspired visual perspectives of people, places, and things in Afghanistan, this is the book for you. I look forward to more books from this upcoming series!

Afghanistan Junkie

I am interested in everything Afghanistan. Although I have read many books about Afghanistan, I was looking for something to help me visualize the country and its people. Claude Baechtold groups pictures by themes and reveals the richness of the country from tiny villages to the middle of Kabul. This book is good for people who know something about the country and can appreciate the diversity of its people.

Amazing photo essay

Although certainly not a traditional travel guidebook (the previous reviewer was correct in that regard), this book is a small but beautiful photo journal of Afghanistan. The book contains photos organized by subject ("taxi," "teenager," "hotel room," "customized AK-47,"), taken throughout the country, with very brief notes indicating where photos were taken and their location on a map. Recommended for fans of photography and contemporary graphic design.

Beautiful, funny and touching little book

This brilliantly imaginative little book captures the color, chaos and above all the life of modern Afghanistan than any other book I've seen -- especially those heavy, expensive tomes full of grainy and depressing black and white photos of war, suffering and destruction. This deserves to be widely seen and appreciated by anyone interested in travel, photography, design, and current events. I'd love to see further volumes in this series, particularly on the Middle East and Asia. Buy this and encourage the publishers to do more!