Customer Reviews

The Monuments of Syria

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I have used Ross Burns' "Monuments of Syria" guide while visiting Syria and found it excellent. It gives detailed information and expert maps - making the whole discovery of the sites as easy as possible. I would recommend it to anyone visiting Syria.

Do not expect much explanation of things while you are in Syria - went twice in last year - any guide you may hire would do well reading this book. Borrowed a copy of this book from friends before going to Syria the first time, it is an excellent definitive guide.
Used Lonely Planet for general country info and info on cities, Monuments of Syria to understand what we were looking at when there and Bradt Guide to round things out and for backup. The map also saved us from getting lost a few times - good for some back road info not on any of the various maps we had.
Anyways, we liked the book so well we bought a copy while in Syria (they had copies at ampitheatre in Palmyra and entrance at Krak).

For many years I led many tours in many countries, amongst them, Syria. Years later, at a party here in Swaziland, I was talking to this guy who mentioned that he had been in Syria, too; in fact, he was writing a guide book on the subject. One of the many magic, even if almost unknown, places in Syria is the early Christian pilgramage city of Al Rosafa. Ross was kind enough to fax me an excerpt from his book, covering that walled desert city. Quite simply, I haven't read anything as good before or since, and don't expect to. If the rest turns out to be as good - serious or armchair travellers alike - get this book: it will be an Alladin's cave!

I bought this book while preparing for a trip to Syria, as the Lonely Planet had mentioned it in high esteem. While it is a great source of info, and does have some suggested itineraries, it is more of an index than a guide.

Not that this is any kind of fault, but I would have liked to know this while planning my book purchases. Until the Blue Guides add Syria to their line, this is a usable substitute. That is to say plan on using another guide (e.g. Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Footprints, etc) for info on getting around and where to eat and sleep. The latter applies to the Blue Guides series as well, and is not meant as a criticism.

One thing offsetting this book's usefulness, was it's poor print quality. We found the text blurry enough to cause headaches even for those who don't wear glasses, and the photos in the color section are only a bit better. On the chance I'd simply gotten a bad copy, I'd later checked a copy in a local bookstore, and it was similar. Not the kind of thing for reading while bouncing around on a bus on your way to a site, but has some through background on Syria's rich archaeological treasures.

The only other real fault this book has is the complete lack of Arabic script. Having your destination in the local script at which to point is always a plus when trying to get around anywhere, even if you can't read a syllable yourself. If you don't think that this is important, ask yourself "How many times have I had language difficulties with cab Drivers (et al) in my own country?"

If you are traveling light, and looking for only one book to take as both travel guide and through history background, I would recommend Footprints' Syria Guide. If you like your history in briefer doses, look to the Lonely Planet or Rough Guides.

This is a well written and meticulously researched guide. The author is obviously very knowledgeable and has done his homework thoroughly. You can't go wrong!