[.ca] Insight Guide - Chile (ISBN 9812348905)

From an ex-Lonely Planet reader:
What's the first thing you want to know about a country? Why do I want to visit. For answering this question Insight guides do an excellent job. Interesting descriptions complemented by pictures get you interested in Chile and what the country has to offer. Comparably Lonely planet guides are like a phone book. There is more information in them - often out of date - but little effort or detail is put in about the features of the country itself. My only problem with Insight is that its informational section is lacking. My suggestion is read insight, determine where and when you want to visit and then seek out up to date information on hotels, etc. from another source.

good good chile reference:
good but not truly useful reference for chile wish there was a more comprehensive listing of hotels and restaurants but i guess thats where the lonlely planet books excel. this book has excellent photos and is a very easy read and i would make it of of three travlel book to this country i would take with me

Pretty book, useful to learn but not to help you travel:
This is a nice book to own and to use at home, but not a book I'd use valuable backpack real estate to tote on a trip. It will give you good background on the history, geaography, and culture of the country and has better pictures than the other guides, but isn't strong on telling you where to eat, what route to use, where to stay, how to get along. I bought mine to show people what Chile is like, and it's great for that.

Deep historical review, quality pictures, helpful:
Quality handbook that includes nice historical depth, perspective and quality images. The review of the Pinochet regime, however, unfortunately comes off as stock socialist perspective. I lived through this period as an ex-pat in Chile and the author's bias is clearly evident.