A Readable
Travel Guide
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Alaska
by Insight Guides
Who must have this book: Anyone traveling to
Alaska who wants a good overall understanding of the state.
Who should have this book: Anyone planning
on visiting the state. Great as a gift to someone planning to
go.
ISBN: 1585732842
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I
always find it a little disappointing when you pick up an Alaskan
travel guide and find that the only picture in the book is the cover
shot. Alaska is just too photogenic to not take advantage of it, and
this book makes full use of the visuals of the state. The book starts
out with a half dozen beautiful spreads just to whet your appetite
and continues with page after page of great pictures. Pick up a Fodor’s
or Frommer’s guide and you will get lots of great information,
but you won’t find yourself just flipping through the pages
like you will with this one. The photos make all the difference.
The book is well designed from beginning to end. Anyone familiar with
Insights visual guides for other locations will quickly recognize
their style, and everyone will appreciate how well and beautifully
the pages are layed out.
The information is not as exhaustive as Fodor’s or Frommer’s
would be. But most of those books are tied up in covering each and
every food and lodging option available to you. This book puts the
information into a readable format and only highlights the best or
the unique food and lodging, while hitting every worthwhile attraction
or site.
Personally, I find the format of this book much more enjoyable than
Frommer’s or Fodor’s. The text can be read from beginning
to end like a book rather than a reference. Also, I like that the
book weaves the history and cultures of the areas into the narrative.
It gives you a better sense of knowing the location, rather than being
able to know that some café has fantastic reindeer sausage.
Overview
The book starts with an overview of the history of Alaska. Again it
is not an exhaustive text, but it does a good job of giving you an
idea of how Alaska has become what it is today and tells some very
interesting stories. There is a great timeline tracing history from
native Alaskans, through the Russian era, the American purchase, the
gold rush and through to modern times.
This section is followed by some features that cover broad topics
in a some depth. The topics include the culture of Native Alaskans
and how to visit their communities, residents, winter, wildlife, and
wilderness adventure. Again each of these topics could be a book in
itself, but the sections give a good overview of visitors.
The thirds major section is the “places” section. The
state is divided into Panhandle, South Central, Interior, Nome and
the far West, and the North Slope. Each area is covered pretty well,
although if you were looking for a guide about a specific region,
especially the West or North Slope, you can probably find more complete
guides.
The last section is an abridged Alaska Tips section that condenses
the Frommers and Fodor’s guides into about 40 pages. It is enough
information to get by, but not as thorough as Frommers or Fodors.
All in all, I’d say that if you wanted to learn more about the
state as a whole for you visit, this is a great book to get. It is
readable, accessible and will have good suggestions for the specific
areas you will be visiting.
Author
Insight Guides and the Discovery Channel have teamed
up to make so of the most readable and visually stunning guides out
there. Together they bring a world of media expertise to the project.
Insight covers many cities and countries around the world in a great
visual way.
