Baechtold's Best: Afghanistan: The Ultimate Visual ... (ISBN 081099223X)

Afghanistan Junkie:
I am interested in everything Afghanistan. Although I have read many books about Afghanistan, I was looking for something to help me visualize the country and its people. Claude Baechtold groups pictures by themes and reveals the richness of the country from tiny villages to the middle of Kabul. This book is good for people who know something about the country and can appreciate the diversity of its people.

Wonderful and quirky, beautiful graphic design:
This is a great little book, perfect for a coffee table. An in-depth travel guide it is not, but nor is it intended to be. The photos are wonderful, and the design and concept are really imaginative. If you're looking for eye-catching graphic design, along with inspired visual perspectives of people, places, and things in Afghanistan, this is the book for you. I look forward to more books from this upcoming series!

A great idea for a book:
I loved this book. The photographers focused on the ordinary, rather than the idealized, and let's face it: when we travel we're going to be dealing with the ordinary. I have not been to Afghanistan but a friend of mind has and when I showed him this book he liked it. This book gets the "look" of the place, warts and all. Of course, it is not a per se guidebook but more of a supplement to more tradional guides. I look forward to future books in this series.

stupid:
I am doing research on a person from Afghanistan and I wanted to get a feeling for the country. The photos are repetitive -an example: 16 shots of cars. I have not gained any new insights to this country from this book.

Amazing photo essay:
Although certainly not a traditional travel guidebook (the previous reviewer was correct in that regard), this book is a small but beautiful photo journal of Afghanistan. The book contains photos organized by subject ("taxi," "teenager," "hotel room," "customized AK-47,"), taken throughout the country, with very brief notes indicating where photos were taken and their location on a map. Recommended for fans of photography and contemporary graphic design.