Rating: 
Summary: This is very poor!
Review: After the first disasterous edition of this book, which was loaded with facetious and patronizing remarks and riddled with errors, and then the second edition, which was still very negative and still riddled with errors, I would have thought the third edition would be better. I was wrong. Has Lonely Planet ever considered getting a Mongolian to write their guide to Mongolia? I am sure there are a lot of Mongolians who could do a better job than these two clowns.
Rating: 
Summary: Do you have a choice ?
Review: I agree with quite a few of the comments of other reviewers. The LP Mongolia is rather shoddy and sketchy and could definitely be much better. But is there an alternative ? None of us would have dared to venture outside UB (tourist-speak for Ulaan Baatar) without LP Mongolia. Therein lies its indispensibility !!!
Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Guidebook Receiving Inexplicably Bad Reviews
Review: I recently returned from a trip to Mongolia, where the Lonely Planet Mongolia guide was my principal source of information.
I am an experienced world traveler, and have had both up-to-date and out-of-date guidebooks with me. I have had books where I agreed with the characterizations in the books, and others where the characterizations seemed far off. Despite being a few years out of date when I bought it, this guide performed extremely well by both standards. The objective information all remained remarkably accurate and up-to-date, and the subjective characterizations were pretty much on the mark as well. Right on down to the small details, such as which museums make you pay a photography fee, which ger camps are more attractively located, and so forth. The history provided in the book is also very relevant; though not extensive, I was struck by how, during my travels, the history I encountered had pretty much all been laid out in the Guide.
I had a splendid time in Mongolia, and have come away with a warm feeling towards Mongolia and the absolutely wonderful people there. I would definitely object if, as some other reviews here have stated, the book took a patronizing or negative tone towards Mongolia. I frankly do not see this at all. It is candid in noting a few of the issues that confront a traveler to Mongolia, but this is vital information to know. I followed the instructions on "things to pack" for Mongolia, and I'm very glad I did; I used all that stuff along the way at some point -- the flashlight, the extra batteries, the bar of soap, the gifts for ger visits, the WetWipes, the bug repellent, etc. Rarely have I been so well prepared by a Guidebook.
If anything, I believe the book understates some of the things for which travelers should be prepared. It describes Ulaan Baatar as a "pleasant" capital city with many interesting restaurants, similar to a middle-sized European city. I enjoyed UB very much, but I know many people who would not regard it as "pleasant" at all: it is filled with hideous Stalinist architecture, it is polluted, and in many places very dilapidated. I found it stimulating and having much to offer, but many vacationers would not enjoy it, and the LP Guide probably downplays these aspects a bit. It also downplays the fact that even at the "touristy" ger camps, you're more likely to have a swarm of insects in your tent at night than to encounter any hot water pressure in the shower at the communal bathroom.
Mongolia is a wonderful place to visit, but it is not for everyone. I saw the LP Guide on the person of many a tourist there, and with good reason; it's an outstanding and indispensable guide.
Why not 5 stars? Well, there could be more. Mongolia is a big country, and this is a thin book by LP standards. Could use a little updating for some of the more recently constructed accommodations. Also could simply use more of everything -- it was a little hard to get a sense ahead of time as to what was worth visiting, because some of the regions of the country are not discussed in significant detail.
Bottom line: great guide, could be improved simply by offering more of the same.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of Bathroom time
Review: I served two years in the Peace Corps roughly the time this guide was written. I found this book not only derogatory of the Mongolian people, but woefully outdated (that was in 1997!). Furthermore, the maps in this book are tragically wrong; particularly when you get out into the rural areas. Lastly and most disturbing was the overall negative attitutde behind this book. Mongolian people are generous to a fault; It seems that the authors of this book missed the point entirely. Don't buy this book unless you want to have an undeserved negative opinion of a country before you go.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of Bathroom time
Review: I served two years in the Peace Corps roughly the time this guide was written. I found this book not only derogatory of the Mongolian people, but woefully outdated (that was in 1997!). Furthermore, the maps in this book are tragically wrong; particularly when you get out into the rural areas. Lastly and most disturbing was the overall negative attitutde behind this book. Mongolian people are generous to a fault; It seems that the authors of this book missed the point entirely. Don't buy this book unless you want to have an undeserved negative opinion of a country before you go.
Rating:
Summary: Lonely Planet Mongolia
Review: I was very impressed with this guide and the Mongolians that we were with were also impressed with the accurate information.
There was quirky tidbits, the history was interesting reading, the culture and customs was relevant, and overall, very informative.
Rating:
Summary: leave the book at home
Review: If you take the words of a "travelor" who seems to get the info from a bar room chat in UB, without wanting to actually go anywhere, then this is your man. I have used many other Lonely Planet Guide Books with great success. Obviously this one got by the hands of the quality control forces. If anything good comes of it maybe it will just persuade people not to go there. The country is one of my favourites, so I like to think I'll selfishly enjoy it on my own.
Rating:
Summary: On-target and indispensable.
Review: If you're planning on touring the country, I know of no better (may well be the only game in town) reference. Mr. Storey is lucid and misses very little on what's there. Commentary is brutally candid, often humorous, but necessary. We had it with us for three weeks and never not used on new arrivals and destination planning. ...And for ALL travel guides, I can't recall any saying more in such a good, compact size. Don't think of going to this very distinctive land without this book
Rating: 
Summary: A sad exercise in ethnocentricity.
Review: Lonely Planet guides are targeted at your average traveller interested in the usual attractions. Happily enough for them, their guides satisfy a good 80% of visitors to a said country. More intrepid travellers would be found wanting. Sadly enough, the average visitor to Mongolia is likely to be more adventurous than those to other destinations. Herein lies the failure of applying the same formulaic approach when writing a guide on Mongolia. The tone of the book assumes that the reader has to be dragged kicking and screaming into this "God-forsaken" land of fermented milk and crumbling post-soviet era apartment blocks. Taking into account varying degrees of "tolerence" to the harsh weather and unfamiliar cuisines seems to be an ongoing theme. The writers forget that some 70 odd years of Soviet influence has introduced western style breads, jams, pickled vegetables etc, which are readily available at most aimag capitals. Indeed, the market in Bulgan city was very well stocked. (at least in the summer and fall). Granted that the country is ever-changing as it is thrust into the 21st Century, but one would expect that the approach to writing this guide would address this as well. Food options in UB are plentiful. Where there had been a handful of chinese restaurants as little as 2 years ago, at least 50 can be listed today. So leave this guide at home, or better yet, bring it along so your Mongolian friends can share a good laugh.
Rating:
Summary: Wait for an updated edition
Review: Much of the content of the 1993 edition of the Lonely Planet guide to Mongolia is badly outdated. Things have changed a lot (and for the better, in terms of availability of goods and services) since the author was here. He can't be faulted for that. But he can be faulted for having written a lot that is unkind, unfair, and uninformed. Two researchers were in Mongolia in the summer of 1996, doing research for an updated edition of this book. If you need a guide to Mongolia, try to get their updated edition
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