Only in Prague: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects by Duncan J. D. Smith (7-Apr-2008) Paperback

by Duncan J.D. Smith

A comprehensive illustrated guide to more than 80 fascinating and unusual historical sights in one of Europe‘s most beautiful capital Hidden cellars, secret gardens, wild valleys, and forgotten cemeteries From prehistoric man and the Přemyslids to the Communist era and the Velvet Revolution The Faust House, the Hunger Wall, the British sewers, and the Alchemists' tower The Prague Bambino, a one-armed photographer, the headless knight, and John Lennon's Wall Recommended for visitors to Prague wishing to discover something a little different, as well as for those inhabitants who perhaps thought they already knew the city

Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Duncan JD Smith is The Urban Explorer, an independent travel writer, guidebook author, historian, photographer, and publisher. Having worked for many years selling other travel writers’ books, in 2003 he decided to start writing and publishing his own. He has subsequently embarked on a lifetime‘s adventure, travelling off the beaten track in search of the world’s hidden corners and curious locations, from the wartime bunkers of Berlin and the Baroque gardens of Prague to the souks of Damascus and the rock-cut churches of Ethiopia.
Duncan’s findings are being published in a ground breaking series of guidebooks, the Only In Guides, designed specifically for the purpose and published under his own The Urban Explorer imprint. Volumes on Berlin, Boston, Budapest, Cologne, Dubrovnik, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Krakow, London, Marseille, Munich, Paris, Prague, Seville, Tangier, Trieste, Vienna, and Zurich have all been published, with a new title, Athens, in preparation. Aimed at independent cultural travellers, these city tales from new perspectives provide unforgettable memories. The series has garnered considerable press and public acclaim, global distribution, and sales in excess of 200,000 copies.
As a result of his extensive travels, not only through the storied cities of Old Europe but also in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and America, Duncan regularly generates original illustrated material for print and digital media. He has been commissioned to write articles in magazines such as Hidden Europe and Timeless Travels. Duncan has great affection for the places about which he has written, as well as an extensive photo library available for commercial usage.
Duncan has appeared on radio and television to promote his work, including the American shows Raw Travel and Mysteries at the Museum. He has also given illustrated lectures in bookshops and universities, to societies and even at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. He released an audio tour in 2010.
Born in Sheffield, England in 1960, Duncan got the history bug when his grandfather, the East Anglian historian Philip G. M. Dickinson, showed him an ancient turf maze and the grave of a Roman soldier in his back garden! Aged just eleven Duncan opened his own private museum before going on to read Ancient History and Archaeology at Birmingham University. Together with his late father, Trevor, he wrote and illustrated four highly successful books on the curiosities of Sheffield and Yorkshire, their home town and county respectively. He also penned the best-selling topographical book Yorkshire: A Portrait in Colour. Still a passionate collector, his interests include vintage Penguin travel books and with them a fascination in forgotten British travellers of the 1920s and 30s. In his spare time he enjoys gardening, house restoration and natural history, and has an eclectic taste in music and film.
Duncan divides his time between England and Central Europe, and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Reviews

[Mark Bahnisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched, excellent writing, a much better guide to Prague than many others.

[Ricardo Ribeiro · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's not a bad guide. It's well written and informative. But it doesn't deliver what the title and specially the subtitle promises. I am not a Prague resident although I lived in the city intermittently. Just because I could and I love Prague. And I could easily prepare a writing plan which would in fact be about unique locations, hidden corners and unusual objects. This book is not. The majority of the places included in the book are mentioned in all the guides, from Lonely Planet to Rough Guide. Almost all are the main touristic spots and located in the most central part of the city, where all is covered by tours and tours guides, documented in hundreds of guidebooks. Anyone vaguely familiar with Prague will had visit them. I don't think there is a single place mentioned in the volume that I didn't know. That's frustrating. That's not why I got this volume (fortunately it was very cheap so it won't harm me too much if I bought it to stay permanently in the shelf).

Materially the book is of excellent quality. Paper, printing, images. All great. But then, I don't like to be tricked.