Rating: 
Summary: Testosteroned rubbish from a braggart blowhard
Review: Robert Young Pelton fancies himself a modern-day Indiana Jones, and has written a book about what he considers to be the world's most dangerous places. He hits all the hot spots, including Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, etc. in his survey. He's done lots of traveling, no doubt, but his writing comes off as macho bragging (of the "I fought off three guys armed with only chopsticks!" nature) and his advice on staying safe is pretty common sense (Really? We shouldn't flash large gobs of cash in crowds? Thanks, Pelton!). Pelton himself was captured by armed rebels last year in Panama's Darien Gap and had to be rescued. If he's so savvy about the world's most dangerous places, why did he get himself in that position? If you want to take advice from this guy, be my guest...
Rating: 
Summary: Scares the hell out of ya!!!
Review: This book stare the hell out of you with hard cold reality of the dangers that surround you, yet at the same time makes you laugh until you cough at the harsh realities of the owrld around us to day. Its a unqiue book I recommend it to all who love gazing through that peppe whole into the world around us, and those that need to be assured its a dangerous world we live in.
Rating:
Summary: DP: It's everywhere you want to be.
Review: This book is the reason that a) you should get a major credit card and b) use it to buy from Amazon. It lists "dangerous places" and "dangerous things", plus "dangerous situations" that a very stupid human can get involved in. DP names and evaluates terrorist groups in every country listed. DP goes over the diseases you can get from traveling abroad. DP gives you the number and addresses of organizations that really do care about changing the world. (Hint: go to www.peacecorps.gov and grow into a better person.) DP has little sections and history on regional crime, guns, causes of tourist death (you get heart attacks more than robbed,) history of the current government and nation, maps, first aid and local and country laws. It's thick; the 3rd edition I own was slightly more than 1,000 pages in length, much of it small print. Chapters are labeled by country in alphabetical order, photographs are lacking in some chapters but not too graphic for the kiddies. It has what many have called a "biased" view of the country being reviewed by the book's authors (a.k.a. an unforgiving comparison between Pelton, the culture he's used to and the culture he's currently in. Yeah the economy there sucks, civil rights don't exist and who knows what they put in the water, but isn't it AMAZING to an American that you can do all your laundry in Cambodia for one measly dollar? I'm a poor college student, it sounds like heaven to me. Also keep in mind that multiple people contribute to DP.) It drones on in certain pages. It repeats certain paragraphs and ideas from the introduction in later chapters. Some information may be very, really outdated by the time you get a copy. Ladies and gentlemen, instead of haggard criticism, why don't you apply to be their copy editor? All reporters appreciate people willing to help. And DP is the greatest, most in-depth single source of information about the planet you can ever find in any major bookstore or retail chain. You tired of listening to Peter Jennings yap on about Iraq this and that, tired of being afraid of a constant looming threat of terrorism, then buy this book, support a small author, educate yourself and make America look better by knowing something about someone else. Recommended. Forest,
Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada at Reno P.S. I've had a hard day, I don't want to hear any crap about not checking my entry for spelling and grammar. Lay off.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to put down
Review: Tired of reading of Paris and Rome? Looking to find out something about the way the other half of the world lives? This is a great place to start. It is part geography lesson, part history, part economics, and all interesting. This book gives one insight into the lives of those less fortunate, both here and abroad. It gives insight into those responsible for the atrocities around the world....from Milosovich to Bush Jr. This book will open your eyes to the impact religious, racial and economic beliefs have on the life (and death) of our fellow men. In the end, this book may even prompt you to do something about it.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting.
Review: An interesting work, but a bit overlong. If you read this often enough and take it totally seriously, you may never leave your home town. Quite an eye-opener.
Rating:
Summary: Most concise and humorous book ever written on the subject
Review: After reading the 4th edition of Dangerous Places cover to cover, I couldn't wait for the 5th. Robert Young Pelton is definately the adventurer of our time. His in your face, no BS stlye of writing/reporting is done so with some of the most biting humor I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Even if you're not a travel buff, this book is still so entertaining you'll find it impossible to put down. Pelton also delivers statistics on all manners of subjects such as transportation, most likely way to be killed, and most dangerous countries of course. The book is full of information you'd never find anywhere else, things that could only be known if you actually sat down and had a talk with the Taliban or FARC(Armed Revolutionary Forces of Columbia). Also, there's a thing or twoin this book that I'm sure Uncle Sam would rather you not know about. This amazing book is also filled with thousands of contacts to organizations, governments, political groups, companies, aid groups, etc. via address and email. This book is by far the most complete, concise, and humorous read you'll ever find about the places in the world where you would most likely not spend your two week vacation. 2-3 months after I started reading the 5th edition I was very disheartened that this 1000+ page monolith was over and all I can say is that I eagerly await the 6th edition. Read The World's Most Dangerous Places by Robert Young Pelton now!
Rating:
Summary: Not good
Review: I bought the book because I thought it would be like a "Fodors" travel book for the most "dangerous places". What I wound up buying was a political commentary book that focuses on travel.
Chock full of information easily found anywhere else, it seems like he puts any informarion in the book just to expand the page count. When you buy a book titled "World's Most Dangerous Places", you don't expect to have to slosh through 319 pages of fluff just to get to the first "Dangerous place". The first part of the book (318 pages worth) is filled with commentary about auto accident rates, diseases - how they are spread and weapon and artilery descriptions. There is a chapter devoted "dangerous occupations" that gives us the history of the US green berets and UN peacekeepers. Nice but all fluff. At some point you just say to yourself "enough already" and get to the reason you bought the book. Skip to the first "dangerous place".
Once there, you will be supplied with continuous jabs at US policy that is somehow the cause of the worlds problems. Left-leaning attacks on the US govt and Israel take all the objectivity out of the book. That fact that the US is even in the book of "World's most dangerous places" is ridiculous. Maybe the US should be in the book if the only place in the US that existed are the inner cities. To use examples of Columbine shootings and "Militias" as threats to everyday americans or tourists is flat out a personal political opinion not based in fact. He dedicates pages to argue the point that Bush lost to Gore and Gore should be president. What business does this have in a Travel Book?!? Bottom line. Not worth [item price]. A nice read to thumb through if you saw it on a coffee table and if you are able to bite your tongue as you sift through the US attacks.
Rating:
Summary: 5th Edition Even Better--Valuable to Business and Government
Review:
I've heard Robert Young Pelton speak, and he is, if anything, even more thoughtful and provocative in person. He has written an extraordinary book that ordinary people will take to be a sensationalist travel guide, while real experts scrutinize every page for the hard truths about the real world that neither the CIA nor the media report. The 5th Edition is even better than the earlier version that I distributed to all the professional intelligence officers attending the annual Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) conference, so I am going to distribute the new improved version.
Unlike clandestine case officers and normal foreign service officers, all of them confined to capital cities and/or relying on third party reporting, Robert Young Pelton actually goes to the scene of the fighting, the scene of the butchery, the scene of the grand thefts, and unlike all these so-called authoritative sources, he actually has had eyeballs on the targets and boots in the mud. I have learned two important lessons from this book, and from its author Robert Young Pelton: First, trust no source that has not actually been there. He is not the first to point out that most journalists are "hotel warriors", but his veracity, courage, and insights provide compelling evidence of what journalism could be if it were done properly. Government sources are even worse--it was not until I heard him speak candidly about certain situations that I realized that most of our Embassy reporting--both secret and open--is largely worthless because it is third hand, not direct. Second, I have learned from this book and the author that sometimes the most important reason for visiting a war zone is to learn about what is NOT happening. His accounts of Chechnya, and his personal first-hand testimony that the Russians were terrorizing their Muslims in the *absence* of any uprising or provocation, are very disturbing. His books offers other accounts of internal terrorism that are being officially ignored by the U.S. Government, and I am most impressed by the value of his work as an alternative source of "national intelligence" and "ground truth". There are a number of very important works now available to the public on the major threats to any country's national security, and most of them are as unconventional as this one--Laurie Garrett on public health, Marq de Villiers on Water, Joe Thorton on chlorine-based industry and the environment--and some, like Robert D. Kaplan's books on his personal travels, are moving and inspiring reflections on reality as few in the Western world could understand it--but Robert Young Pelton is in my own mind the most structured, the most competent, the most truthful, and hence the most valuable reporter of fact on the world's most dangerous places. What most readers may not realize until they read this book is that one does not have to travel to these places to be threatened by them--what is happening there today, and what the U.S. government does or does not do about developments in these places, today, will haunt this generation and many generations to follow. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who cares to contemplate the real world right now.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read for Adventurers and Travel Readers Alike
Review: Readers might be daunted by the title of Pelton's work on the World's Most Dangerous Places--who, after all, wants to travel to places like North Korea, Iraq, or the Balkans for the fun of it? Yet even the casual traveler or fan of travel writing will find Pelton's book an excellent, entertaining read (would-be adventurers, too, will find a wealth of information). Told in such a matter-of-fact and often tongue-in-cheek tone, at times you will find yourself wondering how serious Pelton is, yet his experiences alone traveling the world as a journalist and a dozen other professions leaves no doubt as to the deadly seriousness of his subject matter. Even if you have no desire to jaunt off to Afghanistan until there's a AAA office and clearly-defined, Disney-esque tour paths built, you will find the backgrounds and information presented an enjoyable read. Pelton covers a series of places rated least dangerous (like the US of A) to the most perilous (think Israel / Palestine), discussing the backgrounds of each, the current government structure, ongoing conflicts, etc.--in short, everything a prospective adventuring tourist may want to know. Sidebars often offer a bit of humor, such as the tale of an "insurance salesman" whose sales pitch consisted of hand grenades and the threat to blow up his clients. Finally, sections on everything from the professions that will take you to the dangerous places (from combat journalist to mercenary) to the necessities of dealing with armed forces, bandits, etc.
Rating:
Summary: DP Once More In A Class Alone
Review: Once more DP is in a class by themselves. There is more of a rhetorical edge to some of this book's entries (Afghanistan, Russia, the United States), but after reading of the execution of Roddy Scott and understanding how our administration's ham-fisted approach to the multidimensional problem of terrorism complicates travel to any of the non-Conde Nast destinations in the world, I can completely understand why. I think RYP's acknowledgements at the beginning of the book sum up the essence of what it means to truly be a traveler; humility and gratitude to have the opportunities to experience the very human stories that constitute The World's Most Dangerous Places.
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