Around the World in 80 Treasures (Phoenix Press) - Softcover

Cruickshank, Dan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0753819473 ISBN 13: 9780753819470

Publisher: Phoenix, 2006

Synopsis

A grand world tour in a new, smaller size! One of Britain’s leading authorities on historic architecture takes readers on an incredible visit to mankind’s finest monuments in this companion volume to the BBC television series. Documenting his extraordinary journey to 80 historic sites around the world, Dan Cruickshank’s new book is lavishly illustrated with majestic images of international treasures like the Great Wall of China and the Parthenon, as well as American wonders such as the Statue of Liberty. Accompanying these breathtaking sights is Cruickshank’s daily diary, in which he describes the challenges and joys of life on the road.

About this title

About the Author:

Dan Cruickshank is a regular presenter on the BBC best known for his popular BBC2 series THE BEST BUILDINGS OF BRITAIN and WHAT THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION DID FOR US. He is one of Britain's leading architectural and historic building experts. For Omnibus he has travelled to Afghanistan and Iraq to discover what cultural treasures remain after years of looting and civil war.

From Publishers Weekly:

Travel the world in five months, see 80 "treasures." This is the conceit behind a recent BBC TV series hosted by architect Cruickshank, who is also the guide in this companion book. He visits, in rapid-fire fashion, fantastic, if not entirely unexpected, places (Egypt's pyramids, the ruins of Peru, the Parthenon), documenting each with sometimes transcendent pictures, but much of the narration is bogged down by Cruickshank's complaints about speeding through the ruins and getting up for early flights to dash from one continent to the next. Cruickshank's descriptions vary in quality, sometimes reading like brochures. (A product, perhaps, of brief visits that don't allow him to absorb anything before he's off to the next destination.) Though some of the destinations seem absurd for a top-80 list (firing a Colt pistol in Durango, Colorado?), Cruickshank is a witty travel agent and his architectural background enriches the best sections. Anyone seriously interested in these marvels will be frustrated by the slight treatment each receives; Cruickshank is too busy traveling to provide much depth. However, fans of the series will appreciate how Cruickshank crams the entire world into one journey and one book.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Phoenix
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0753819473
• ISBN 13: 9780753819470
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 333