Customer Reviews

Arizona Handbook (7th Ed.)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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Recently my wife and I planned a trip to Eastern Arizona. We got copies of all the available guidebooks to Arizona and began going through them for information. It soon became clear that Bill Weir's book had by far the most information. He has been everywhere. The book is well-written, authoritative without being pedantic, and is nicely laid out so that it is easy to use. We especially appreciate his coverage of hiking trails.

When we use an Arizona guidebook the first thing we do is crack it open to its section on Flagstaff, where we live. When we did this, we found that the book passed the acid test. This is the best book of its kind, and the one that we will use from now on.

With its 600 pages of text and 32-page index, you immediately sense that this seventh edition was written by a person who knows Arizona extremely well. Flagstaff resident Bill Weir really packs in the practical details of travel, making it unnecessary to spend time wading through the myriad brochures available at roadside tourist information centers. Bill has done that job for us, and he intersperses just the right mix of historical photos, maps, sidebars, and charts to make our trip a real learning experience. Visitors, local residents, and libraries alike will find this in-depth handbook a veritable cornucopia of all things Arizonan.

I was disappointed in The Arizona Handbook. If you're planning on driving in the state, you won't be able to use the book to plan your trip. The book lacks details such as mileages between cities, and orientations on how to get to cities or sites, are not given (e.g. there is no indication of the route to take between the North and South Rims, am important detail). In other respects,it provides too much information and not enough commentary. For example, it lists restaurants and accomodations in various areas, but does not rate them or give you an idea on which of the many places is recommended, or even which would be a good place to stay. I'm not saying not to buy the book, but if you do, you'll need to buy another one to supplement it. It's definitely not a complete handbook.