Phyllis G. Martin

I've read some shamefully bad walking guides before (especially on e-readers, where it's harder to tell that the document is really just someone cribbing, badly, off Wikipedia to make a buck), so it's such a relief to have something this good at hand.

This wonderful book is (a) jam-packed with tours, and (b) chock-full of information about the places you visit. There's a lot of history, a lot of culture, a lot of explanation about what is (to me) a very different culture. And some beautiful illustrations to give you a sense of what you might be seeing.

I'll be in Kyoto next year, and he's made me even more excited about attending. It's one thing to see something in person--it can seem beautiful, or unusual, or nondescript--but with Martin in hand, everything I see will be interesting and rich with history. Thank you, Sir!

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!… (plus d'informations)