Asia: From the Urals to the Pacific by Victoria Burrows #Asia #NetGalley

The world’s largest and most populous continent with 4.6 billion inhabitants, Asia offers a variety of culture and landscape unmatched elsewhere, ranging from the 6000km- (3728 mile-) long Yangtze River – the heart of Chinese culture and commercial life for millennia – to the deepest recesses of the Bornean rainforest, one of the most biodiverse environments on the planet. Divided into five chapters by region, Asia is a sumptuous introduction to this most vibrant of continents. Explore the 12th century Hindu complex at Angkor Wat; be amazed at the beauty of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam; learn about the Great Wall of China, the world’s longest and oldest fortification dating back to the seventh century BC; and gaze upon the iconic Mt Fuji, one of Japan’s three holy mountains and the highest in the country. With over 180 vivid photographs of Asia, this book offers a pictorial exploration of the culture, flora and fauna of this hugely diverse continent.

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Hi and welcome to my review of Asia!

I am fond of Amber Books’ coffee table books so obviously, I tackled Asia with great gusto. I’ve been trying to increase my armchair travelling to Asia in recent years, as it’s a fascinating, very diverse continent, with many countries I know little about, so Asia was a great find! (Thank you, Nicki 😉)

Asia takes its reader from Turkey and Georgia all the way to Japan and Indonesia. Is it entirely comprehensive? Well, no. Asia is huge and comprises too many countries to be able to visit them all in one coffee table book. Still, I feel this is a good effort, offering magnificent photos as well as historical notes, information about fauna and flora, and socio-economical information about many Asian countries, allowing the reader to form an image of the continent as a whole, as well as an understanding of just how vast and diverse it is.

I especially admired the flora in Yemen, the fauna in Nepal, the many UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the many beautiful palaces in India.

Asia has something for every reader and I would definitely recommend it to readers who want to discover Asia and lovers of coffee table books and/or travel, be it in real life or from the comforts of their home.

Massive thanks to Amber Books and NetGalley for the DRC. All opinions are my own.