Insight Guide to Chile (2nd Ed)

Rating:
Summary: Insight Guide to Chile
Review: An excellent, and informative guide, providing more than just typical "tourist" info. This volume also covered the history of the region as well as aspects of culture and daily life covering the range of regions in the country. I found the volume extremely helpful and am planning a trip to the area in the near future.

Rating:
Summary: this book lies...
Review: This is a terrible book. For someone who has lived in Chile and knows what is actually like there, I can say that the only thing this book really shows is what Americans want to see (poor but not upset about it, "evolving" but not quite there yet, etc.). I don't think the Insight Guides actually sent a photographer to Chile for this second edition. The photographs are very out of date. This book upset me, but it angered a lot of my Chilean friends. The picture of the band on page 81 is Ilapu, not Inti-Illimani. I'm an anthropology student who is writing a review of the Insight Guides. None of them are any better than this one. Don't buy them. If you need to travel with guides or gear, don't travel. Chile is not deepest, darkest Africa. Even in deepest, darkest Africa (as well as in Chile) there are people just like you who live there, who will tell you everything you need to know about where they live. The Insight Guides imply that there is some incredible difference, that just dosen't exist. They lie.

Rating:
Summary: this book lies...
Review: This is a terrible book. For someone who has lived in Chile and knows what is actually like there, I can say that the only thing this book really shows is what Americans want to see (poor but not upset about it, "evolving" but not quite there yet, etc.). I don't think the Insight Guides actually sent a photographer to Chile for this second edition. The photographs are very out of date. This book upset me, but it angered a lot of my Chilean friends. The picture of the band on page 81 is Ilapu, not Inti-Illimani. I'm an anthropology student who is writing a review of the Insight Guides. None of them are any better than this one. Don't buy them. If you need to travel with guides or gear, don't travel. Chile is not deepest, darkest Africa. Even in deepest, darkest Africa (as well as in Chile) there are people just like you who live there, who will tell you everything you need to know about where they live. The Insight Guides imply that there is some incredible difference, that just dosen't exist. They lie.