World Heritage Sites: A Complete Guide to 936 UNESCO World Heritage Sites - Softcover

UNESCO

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1770850236 ISBN 13: 9781770850231

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2012

Synopsis

Updated for 2012, this guide fully describes every official UNESCO World Heritage site.

In 1959, UNESCO launched an international campaign to safeguard the world's most important cultural, natural and mixed sites, which led to the first World Heritage List. In clear text and photographs describing each site, this updated and revised edition of World Heritage Sites details all 936 sites on the list, including the 25 added in 2011.

Covering 153 countries, the World Heritage List is a valuable tool in the battle to preserve cultural and natural heritage. Its strict criteria mean only the most extraordinary and important sites make it onto the list, such as the Statue of Liberty, the Great Barrier Reef, the Historic Center of Vienna, Vatican City, the Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test Site, Robben Island, Ancient Damascus, and the Tower of London. At the same time, failure to maintain the criteria can result in being delisted, as was the Dresden Elbe Valley in 2009.

Some of the new sites added in 2011 and included in this book are:

• Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
• Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison, Barbados
• Saloum Delta, Senegal
• Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley
• Fagus Factory in Alfeld, Germany
• Ningaloo Coast, Australia
• Ancient Villages of Northern Syria
• Citadel of the Ho Dynasty, Vietnam
• Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Altai
• The Persian Garden, Iran

Featuring gorgeous photographs and updated maps, World Heritage Sites is uniquely comprehensive.

About this title

About the Author:

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded in 1945 with the ambitious goal to build peace in the minds of men and women through education, social and natural science, culture and communication.

Review:

[Review for previous edition] This volume is a must for the serious traveller's bookshelf. (Ryan Murdock Outpost Magazine)

[Review for previous edition] This book contains a tremendous amount of information about these well-known and not-so-well known historical and natural areas which UNESCO has identified as being of outstanding value to humanity. This book would be a great addition to reference sections of public and junior and senior high school libraries. (Victoria Pennell Resource Links Vol. 16 No. 4)

[Review for previous edition] You won't find a guidebook that comes closer to painting a complete picture about such a large body of tourism haunts. (Ann Tatko-Peterson San Francisco West County Times 2009-10-25)

[Review for previous edition] Impressive...a true travelogue throughout the book, as we are taken to the most beautiful sites the world has to offer, further proof of why UNESCO wants to preserve them for future generations, to enjoy centuries from today. In the meantime, we get to enjoy their charm, right in our hands. (Shelf Life 2010-06-01)

[Review for previous edition] Think of it as the world's greatest hits. (Ellen Creager St. Paul Pioneer Press 2009-11-22)

[Review for previous edition] Firefly Books is the first to compile a guidebook that attempts to cover all of the World Heritage sites.... It's a fascinating look at these remarkable sites. (Ann Tutko-Peterson Valley Times 2009-10-25)

[Review for previous edition] Whether your gift recipient is a traveller or someone who prefers to travel imaginatively in the comfort of home, World Heritage Sites is a splendid gift. With more than 650 colour photos, the book is a luscious visual treat. And as some sites are grievously damaged (Angor Wat) or destroyed (Buddhas of Bamiyan), the book is a record of what exists now and what once was. (Candace Fertile Victoria Times-Colonist 2009-11-29)

[Review for previous edition] The cover boasts a gorgeous photo of the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The back shows the Taj Mahal, pink in the light of dawn. And in between there are more than 800 pages-and almost two kilograms' worth -that are filled with information about natural and cultural wonders from every corner of the globe. In a way, the book is a book of dreams - for people with the travel bug or those who just like to imagine what it would be like to see places the forces of nature and human ingenuity have wrought. All of these places are sites of physical or cultural significance on a list maintained by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Canada is well represented, with 15 sites, most of which are of natural rather than historic value. (Waterloo Region Record 2009-12-12)

[Review for previous edition] Most places-to-see-before-you-die books are a dime a dozen, but this one comes with the moral authority of the United Nations. World Heritage Sites: A Complete Guide to 878 UNESCO World Heritage Sites features gorgeous photos ands pithy descriptions of Earth's most culturally, historically and geologically significant locations. (Rob Howatson Westworld 2009-11-23)

[Review for previous edition] Really a great and informative publication! (digonsite.com 2010-06-01)

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1770850236
• ISBN 13: 9781770850231
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 872