I work for Rough Guides (and for DK Eyewitness Travel) and so am always interested in criticism and praise of the series, and try to take the long view, so to speak, insofar as that's possible, since my interest in travel is personal as much as professional. This article didn't sit well with me because I think that claiming to evaluate a variety of different series meaningfully on the strength or weakness of one country guide is bold, if not out-and-out foolhardy.

Though your conclusions vis a vis Cuba are interesting, I'd enjoy reading a broader appraisal of each of the series.

Beyond the general payment policies for authors that are generalizable across series, the quality of books can vary within a series a good deal. That said, only by looking at multiple books by one publisher do you get a flavor--appealing or less so, based on personal taste--for the each series approach to geography and mapping, a destination's history and culture, value for money vs. pure thriftiness vs. "the best at any price," or whether they favor regional companies or more established operators, and all kinds of other factors that make each book different.

By the way, the whole Thomas K. Colombia issue was just a PR stunt: he just updated the history section, which I feel is totally kosher to do from afar.

Brenda, I hope you're able to check out the new first edition Rough Guide to Havana when it comes out in Jan 2010.

Reply