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Morocco
Book by Rogerson, Barnaby
- GenresTravelNonfiction
Paperback
First published August 1, 1994
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July 19, 2018
By turns hilarious, dry, and maybe a little old-school "Orientalist," I can honestly say I've never read a travel guidebook quite like this one. This book is jam-packed with pithy historical context, amusing anecdotes, great maps, and such a breadth of practical information that I may take this along to Morocco as my only guidebook: it blows Lonely Planet out of the water (and Rick Steves only covers Tangier as a day-trip from Spain!).
In addition to being a great, functional guidebook, this serves well as a primer for anyone interested in Moroccan history and culture, with extensive chapters on religion, cuisine, music, politics, etc: which, impressively, is also woven into the individual city chapters so the social context is never far removed from the pin-point sights Rogerson has chosen to highlight.
One downside, alluded to above, is that Rogerson occasionally lapses into a paternalistic colonialist register that sits somewhere between wry amusement at the absurdity of an alien culture, and outright xenophobia. However, in general the author maintains an obvious respect and admiration for the people of Morocco and their rich history.
Another possible drawback to the book is its' size and weight - at 500 or so pages it's a little unwieldy for anyone traveling light. I expect when I visit Morocco I will take Rick Steves' standard advice, and slice this book into chapters that reflect my custom itinerary.
Finally, I can't speak to the hotel and restaurant reviews, as I usually try to find my own way there; but it seems adequate and well-researched (if maybe a little out of date by now: I'm reviewing the 2004 edition, in 2018).
In addition to being a great, functional guidebook, this serves well as a primer for anyone interested in Moroccan history and culture, with extensive chapters on religion, cuisine, music, politics, etc: which, impressively, is also woven into the individual city chapters so the social context is never far removed from the pin-point sights Rogerson has chosen to highlight.
One downside, alluded to above, is that Rogerson occasionally lapses into a paternalistic colonialist register that sits somewhere between wry amusement at the absurdity of an alien culture, and outright xenophobia. However, in general the author maintains an obvious respect and admiration for the people of Morocco and their rich history.
Another possible drawback to the book is its' size and weight - at 500 or so pages it's a little unwieldy for anyone traveling light. I expect when I visit Morocco I will take Rick Steves' standard advice, and slice this book into chapters that reflect my custom itinerary.
Finally, I can't speak to the hotel and restaurant reviews, as I usually try to find my own way there; but it seems adequate and well-researched (if maybe a little out of date by now: I'm reviewing the 2004 edition, in 2018).
Displaying 1 of 1 review