Insight Guide Argentina (Paperback)

~ Huw Hennessy (Editor) "Some of Argentina's characteristics are world-famous, while its other charms have gone unheralded..." (more)
Key Phrases: international cooking, Buenos Aires, San Martin, Tierra del Fuego (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

One of over 400 titles in the Insight series,

Insight Guide Argentina. This 384-page book includes a section detailing Argentina's history, 8 features covering the country's life and culture, ranging from the gauchos to tango dancers to barbecued beefsteaks on the pampas, a region by region guide to the sights, and a comprehensive Travel Tips section packed with essential contact addresses and numbers. Plus over 380 amazing photographs and 17 maps.

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: 224 pages
• Publisher: APA Publications; 4th edition (November 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887290310
• ISBN-13: 978-0887290312
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,068,649 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful photos, good history, not for your suitcase, October 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Insight Guide Argentina (Argentina, 3rd ed) (Paperback)

Photographs (all in color) and narrative provide a wonderful introduction to Argentina and its history, but the book's actual value as a "travel companion" is limited. It sometimes reads like the script to a travelogue.."you drive along for xkm and see this town and this town..." It mentions a lot of locations but misses some (Santa Rosa, Neuquen). It would be helpful if the index had references to the map pages and if there were cross references if a place name might be questioned (for example, San Carlos de Bariloche on the map/Bariloche in the index). The travel tips at the back were focused on b.a. and (having just returned) somewhat misleading (the "what to wear" section and its fashion police comments--most places were really casual); the suggestion to take U.S. cash--found atms a better choice; book note that it is no longer "inexpensive" --we found nothing outrageously overpriced. As a pre-trip introduction, a good guide, but too limited in information and too heavy to carry on a trip. For the most complete information and your travel bible, choose instead the new 1998 Argentina handbook!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best all around!!!, November 11, 2001

By	"anthonyjcatalde" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

I have looked at all the other major books on argentina and out of all of them this is the one book that is complete, tells you what you need to know and moves on.
Most other books are for collage-age youth who want to go and find a bar, cheap hotel and stay up really late. But this is a classy read with beautiful illustrations. This is also coming from someone who is moving to Argentina and knows his stuff so Choose this one and you will not be dissatisfied.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars possibly the most USELESS guidebook ever printed!, May 12, 2008

By	Sunnyvale Reader (Sunnyvale, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Insight Guide Argentina (Insight Guides Argentina) (Paperback)

Unreadable national and regional maps, rambling, garbled prose, pictures with vague or misleading captions, no city maps, and USELESS text are only a few of the reasons not to buy this book!

Text: if they mention a museum is worth visiting, I want the address! Nope, details like that are not found in this book. Instead, you encounter endless run-on sentences with far too many adjectives.

Maps: their choice of color and patterning makes it impossible to tell borders from roads, and highways from country tracks. USELESS.

There are lots and lots of pretty pictures, but most of them have captions like "Autumn splendor" - WHERE? What are you showing me?

The index: again, USELESS is the word that applies. The city I wanted to read about was listed as being mentioned on 3 pages - upon viewing those pages, I found there was nothing at all about the city on 2 of the 3 referenced pages.

There is loads of rambling prose and literary and historical references in the book, but to use it to plan a trip would be impossible.

Glad I borrowed this book from the library instead of wasting money on it. I'll continue to search for the right book to use to plan our trip.