'You guys really are the axis of evil', our guide splutters over
his stein of beer in the Pyongyang duck restaurant. 'You're always
leaning out of the windows and taking photographs when I tell you not
to.'
In an age of plastic knives on planes, Tony Wheeler can make the
extraordinary claim of having visited all the rogue countries currently
on newsreaders' lips. Bad Lands is a witty first-hand account
of his travels through places often perceived as having some of the
most repressive and dangerous regimes in the world: Afghanistan,
Albania, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Saudi Arabia.
Taking into account each country's attitude to human rights, terrorism
and foreign policy, he asks 'what makes a country truly evil?' and 'how
bad is really bad?' - all the while engaging with a colourful cast of
locals and hapless tour guides, ruminating on history and debunking
popular myths.
Written by the founder of Lonely Planet, this fascinating account of
life in these closed-off countries will appeal to anyone with an
interest in the state of the world today.
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