Product Description

"Badlands" is Tony Wheeler's personal account of his experiences in some of the most repressed and dangerous regimes in the world. He selected these 'Bad Lands' based on a simple criteria - how each country treats its own citizens, if it is involved in terrorism and if it is a threat to other countries. He examines nine countries - Afghanistan, Albania, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Saudi Arabia - in an incisive political and social commentary that asks 'what makes a country truly evil?' 'How bad is really bad?' "Badlands" is a witty and personal travel account by the founder of Lonely Planet, a fascinating account of life in these closed off countries that will appeal to anyone with an interest in the state of the world today. A list of extra "Badlands" that didn't quite make the list Tony Wheeler's "Evil Meter[trademark]" - How does a country achieve Bad Land status? What makes a country truly evil? And what country heads the list?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #208609 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 327 pages

Customer Reviews

I expected a much better book
Saw this in a shop and purchased it straight away as it sounded interesting and promised a different persepctive on these countries.

I was disapointed by the style of writeing which offered a few insights but not much more than just a mundane storey of one mans travel, which did at time appear to give the reader the impression that it was only written to satisfy the authors ego.

I expected more from such a seasoned traveller. Not worth the money

Fascinating travelogue
This is a really readable book about Tony Wheeler's visits as a tourist to countries that are (or were until fairly recently) deemed as 'bad lands' by most of the rest of the world. It's a very personal view of each country's activities and exploits, and Mr Wheeler does make the point that few, if any, countries in the world can claim to have a clear conscience. It's really interesting to read about the people and places in the countries that were visited - as a woman, the most scary place to me would be Saudi Arabia where it seems that women have no rights or freedoms at all. I'd loved to have read about some of the countries listed as "also-rans" such as Somalia, DR Congo, Haiti etc, but I'd guess that visiting a lot of those places as a tourist would be difficult if not impossible. And after what Mr Wheeler has to say about the North Korean government, I doubt as if they'll be letting him back in...! ;)

Gallivanting through the Axis of Evil
"Libya is one of the most comprehensively trashed countries I've ever visited." - Author Tony Wheeler in BAD LANDS

Co-founder (with his wife, Maureen) of Lonely Planet Publications, Tony Wheeler here describes his travels through nine countries generally considered "bad lands" by Western societies because of their poor treatment of their own citizens, their involvement in terrorism, and the threat they pose to other countries. The nine are Afghanistan, Albania, Myanmar (Burma), Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia. Except for areas in Iraq which Wheeler was careful to skirt, none of the nine are particularly dangerous for the individual visitor.

In the genre of travel essays, BAD LANDS is commendably out of the ordinary in that it includes a 16-page center section of color photographs. I guess if your book is being published your own publishing company, you can afford this extravagance.

While reading the first chapter on Afghanistan, I thought Wheeler's writing rather stiff and I was somewhat dreading the experience of the whole. But in following chapters, he loosens up considerably and becomes a congenial and wryly humorous guide. For instance, this paragraph about Cuba:

"Every other woman walking by was wearing the standard Cuban fashion statements: short, tight, low, high, stretched. Preferably in Lycra ... In Cuba no women can be too big, too wide, too round for Lycra. 'Thrusting femininity' was the two-word definition of the Cuban approach to fashion, according to one visiting travel writer ..."

Published in 2007, BAD LANDS provides a roomy front window for the reader to peer out into the contemporary society of each nation visited, as well as useful rear window overlooking their recent pasts.

I'd award five stars except for the last two chapters, "The Evil Meter" and "Other Bad Lands: The Extended List." In the former, Tony rates, on a scale of 1 to 10, each of the nine subject nations: 1-3 points for domestic oppression, 1-3 for support or participation in terrorism, 1-3 for international belligerency, and a bonus point for Personality Cult centered around the national leader. I didn't mind so much that Wheeler calibrated his meter with such countries as the United States, Australia, the UK, and France and found them registering on the scale, albeit at a low level. But, when he carried the concept over into the latter chapter and mentions such garden spots as Somalia, Congo/Zaire, Angola, Haiti, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Syria and (in his mind) the evil conjoined twins, Israel and Palestine, without making even the most rudimentary mention of an obvious twosome, resurgent Russia and China, then I began to doubt his objectivity. Perhaps he should just stay with travel writing and skip the editorializing.