Insight Guides USA the New South (Insight Guide USA the New South) [Paperback]

Insight (Creator)

Book Description

Series: Insight Guide USA the New South | Publication Date: April 1, 2004

This 388-page book includes a section detailing the New South's history, 9 features covering the area's history and culture, ranging from its passion for horses to its Kentucky bourbon, a region by region visitor's guide to the sights, and a comprehensive Travel Tips section packed with essential contact addresses and numbers. Plus hundreds of top-notch photographs and 22 maps.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Since 2000. Hammond, American Map, Langenscheidt Dictionaries, Insight Travel Guides, Delorme – the famous names in the Langenscheidt family. These represent the most authoritative, up-to-date, and extensive travel and reference products available. In January 2003, the renowned Berlitz Publishing became part of the Langenscheidt Group. The Langenscheidt Publishing Group, the premier group of map and travel companies, offers over 4,000 North American and international street maps, road maps, atlases, language-learning, bilingual dictionaries, and travel-related products covering countries, cities, and languages in every continent.

Product Details

• Paperback: 388 pages
• Publisher: Insight Guides (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9814120766
• ISBN-13: 978-9814120760
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,434,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Old New South, January 3, 2005

By 

John Orfield (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Insight Guides USA the New South (Insight Guide USA the New South) (Paperback)

I was born in Tennessee, grew up in South Carolina and lived in Georgia for five years before relocating to Ohio. I bought the Insight Guide To The New South to quell that occasional twinge of homesickness and to learn more about one of my favorite areas in the world.

It is a beautiful looking book, as are all of the Insight Guides. Fantastic full color photos and detailed maps fill the book and the editors do a reasonable job of briefing you on the history and culture of the South. The text is your standard travel guide fare -- light sometimes flowery descriptions that cover most of the must-see destinations of each state.

There are a few problems, though. The hotel and restaurant listings are so incomplete that you wonder why they even bothered to include them. That, along with the bulk of the book (388 pages) makes it more of a coffeetable book than an indisposable, or even convenient, carry-along travel guide.

Even worse, I encountered a few typos (one blurb referenced the state of "Missississippi" and one map happened to include "Cincinati") and a few gaffes (the guide tells you that North Carolina's mountains are in the eastern part of the state and referred to the Atlantic Coast Conference as the "legendary Atlantic Athletic Conference"). And while the book spends a great deal of time and effort praising the booming growth and enterprise of the "New South," it spends even more time on the old Southern standbys -- plantations, Elvis, the Civil War, and "Gone With The Wind," which is mentioned (by my count, which could be wrong) roughly 137 times. All of this, to me, shows a kind of editorial laziness which taints the entire book.

Nevertheless, I do believe this is a worthwhile pre-visit introduction to the South, for the photos alone. If you want a detailed travel companion, this may not be for you. And if you want a real feel for the South, you really just have to go. No book can give you that.