Around the World in Eighty Treasures Hardcover – 17 Feb. 2005

What I enjoy the most about Dan Cruickshank is his enthusiasm for his subjects and he conveys this both in the programme and in this book.For me the most interesting part of this book/ series was the reason why each object was selected. Even if you don't agree with some of the objects (the revolver for instance took a while for me to make sense) it is intriguing looking at the range of objects. My interest slants mostly towards architecture but of course that is not the whole story of Human history and invention.This book is both a good read for its style but also informative. And if you just like to look at the wonderful pictures and dream of visiting all these places, who could blame you?

I love both the DVDs and the hardback versions of Dan Cruickshank's books of the same title: Adventures in Architecture and Around the World in Eighty Treasures. The hardback versions contain colour photographs of many of the sites and buildings Cruickshank explores and writes about, and are an excellent resource to learn about the history of such places. I would highly recommend these books (and DVDS). Five stars, easily.I hope you find my review helpful.

If you missed some of the television programmes, or want a tangible souvenir of them, this is for you. Unlike some books made to accompany programmes, this really is a record of the programme, having been written at the same time as the 5-month, 80-treasure voyage was made, and during which material for the eight episodes programmes was gathered. Here Dan Cruickshank gives us informative background to the treasures, and their descriptions (with many pictures of course), along with his own interesting reflections and musings. In addition there is a lovely map of the treasures' locations around the world.One gripe. I have a lot of time for Dan Cruickshank. Some are irritated by his whispery soft delivery and some find his foppishly elegant appearance off-putting. Personally I like both. But nevertheless he soon started to get on my nerves as I journeyed through the 248 pages of text. These 248 contain some 233 photographs, and before counting I would have said that DC appears on nearly half of them. In fact he doesn't, he appears on `just' 53 of them. But it feels like lots more. Why so many? What is more, mostly he is looking direct into camera, like the worst of holiday snaps. Including a human figure can be justified in some cases by the need for an indicator of scale, or sometimes to give some human interest. But why always DC? The production team was made up of 5 other people whom it would have been interesting to meet, and these were often joined by a local `fixer', of whom DC sometimes gives colourful descriptions, leading to the hope (always dashed) of a photo of this person on the next page. This aspect sadly reduced the impact for me of this otherwise very enjoyable and different travelogue.

THIS IS A GREAT BOOK TO GO WITH A GOOD VIDEO .DAN MAINLY KEEPS TO ARCHITECTURAL WONDERS BUT HAS SOME VERY DAFT DOUBTFUL TREASURES SUCH AS PICASSO,S GUERNICA THE COLT REVOLVER ,VOLKSWAGEN AND A SAMURAI SWORDTTHEIR INCLUSION WAS A WASTE OF SPACE FOR FAR MORE WORTHY CONTENDERS.HOWEVER IT MAKES A GOOD WAY TO ORGANISE A WORLD TRIP AND THE SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE HE HAS AT HIS DISPOSAL IS IMPRESSIVE

What a great read. Dan Cruickshank really takes the reader to imagine all these wonderful sights as if the reader was there.

Great read and lots pictures

Quite a useful book to have in your possession for holiday planning. Of course, you enjoy the places you've actually been to more ie Peking, Venice or that you've heard about from friends ie Chartres Cathedral, Moscow Underground. I'd buy the DVD too after reading this.

A well received gift.

The product arrived in a timely manor but it had a tear on the front cover that was not mentioned in the product description.

I had seen this show on a PBS station and it was very interesting and enlightening. So whenI looked it up on amazon, I found the book. The book gives a lot more backgound as to how the documentary was made and it gives a lot of detailed insight that perhaps the program didn't mention. It is a treasure for anyone who is fascinated by world cultures, art, history, and travel. I learned a lot from this book and its documentary.

Very interesting book and a good souvenir from the TV series. Congratulations to Mr. Dan Cruickshank and thanks for sharing his treasures.Easy to read during a trip. It is an invitation to travel in order to appreciate the culture, the history and more details of our world.

Fantastic book that gives more details of the trip Dan made when filming his TV series "Around the World in 80 treasures", I loved it.