Product Description
48 Maps ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

Outdated, incomplete and poorly researched
This review is for the 5th edition, published in 2008.

This is for the I was in Mongolia for two months this summer and this book was of only marginal utility, and then only in the capitol. Maps were missing major streets. General country information was grossly outdated or flat out wrong - I can't take a guidebook seriously when it's talking about a lack of cars in the capitol and I see a traffic jam every morning. You'd also think there were only three or four guesthouses in all of Ulaan Baatar if you believed this book.

This book also appears to have been written by a single individual instead of a team. I also heard rumors among several of the business owners that the author routinely demanded favors in exchange for coverage in the book. The sheer number of business that have been around since long before this book was published that should have been covered, such as hostels much better located than the ones in the book. I understand that guidebooks do get out of date, and Mongolia is a rapidly changing country especially in the environs of Ulaan Baatar, but the extent to which this is shown in the 5th edition of LP is simply ridiculous.

Overall the guidebook comes off as sloppily, hastily and lazily done. I am giving it two stars because it did come in handy sometimes; some of the maps are reasonably accurate and it does list some businesses and attractions in Ulaan Baatar and other environs. I would not rely solely on this book, and the caveat that "it's just a GUIDEbook" definitely applies.

Travelling to Mongolia
Mongolia (Country Guide)


Extremly efficient and quickly. Amazon in his best.

Good for the Basics
I have lived in Mongolia since 2006 and have been traveling here since 2004. It's clear that some of the info is outdated. Places and prices of course change from year to year. But it's also clear the writer was given incorrect info at the time of writing. Always check info before traveling to Mongolia or places in Mongolia. The Chingiss Khan statue near Terelj park for example, is far from the 13th century camp and there is no accommodation for tourists. UB2 hotel in Terelj was remodeled in 2008 and has terrible service. Food is expensive and not tasty.

NEW 2009 BOOK REVIEW!
I believe I am the first visitor to take the new, 2009 book to Mongolia.I printed it out 1 week after it came out and jumped on a plane to Mongolia.It is the MUST HAVE book for cruising through the country.The UB portion is spot on, and the transportation section in the back is exceptionally accurate.However, if you compare the old version to this one, quite a few restaurants had reviews that were not revisited.While the restaurants haven't really changed,the reviews are stale. For the rest of the country, the authors have done an exceptional job of describing a vast open space. No one else I met in Mongolia had anything other than the LP.PS, I stayed at the Golden Gobi.

Love to Love it (Mongolia)
Barbeques, Mongolian,
Treasure seeking Nomads,
cornerstone of the steppe
blast furnace of wind land
policing the desert
horse faced and horse toed
the horse can resist no more
and tears down the valley to look at
itself in the reflection.
Ill be there next year. I promise. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from International Bulletin of Missionary Research, published by Overseas Ministries Study Center on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 3911 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The legacy of James Gilmour.(missionary in Mongolia)
Author: Kathleen L. Lodwick
Publication: International Bulletin of Missionary Research (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: Overseas Ministries Study Center
Volume: 27Issue: 1Page: 34(4)

Article Type: Biography

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Soviet-Japanese War. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 128. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Soviet-Japanese War of 1945 (Russian: , lit. Soviet-Japanese War), began on August 9, 1945, with the Soviet invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. The Soviets conquered Manchukuo, Mengjiang (inner Mongolia), northern Korea, southern Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. The rapid defeat of Japan's Kwantung Army was a significant factor in the Japanese surrender and the termination of World War II. At the Tehran Conference (November 1943), Stalin agreed that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan once Nazi Germany was defeated. At the Yalta Conference (February 1945), Stalin agreed to Allied pleas to enter World War II's Pacific Theater within three months of the end of the war in Europe. The invasion began on August 9, 1945, precisely three months after the German surrender on May 8 (May 9, 0:43 Moscow time). The commencement of the invasion fell between the atomic bombings of Hiroshima, on August 6, and Nagasaki, on August 9. Although Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had not been told much detail of the Western Allies' atomic bomb program by Allied governments, he was nonetheless well aware of its existence and purpose by means of Soviet intelligence sources. However, by virtue of the timing of the agreements at Tehran and Yalta, and the long term buildup of Soviet forces in the Far East since Tehran, it is clear that news of the attacks on the two cities played no major role in the timing of the Soviet invasion; the date of the invasion was foreshadowed by the Yalta agreement, the date of the German surrender, and the fact that on August 3, Marshal Vasilevsky reported to Stalin that, if necessary, he could attack on the morning of August 5. At 11pm Trans-Baika...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=4891298 ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Timeline of Mongolian History, Provinces of Mongolia, List of Companies Listed on the Mongolian Stock Exchange, List of Birds of Mongolia, List of Mammals of Mongolia, List of Airports by Icao Code: Z, Districts of Mongolia, Outline of Mongolia, Index of Mongolia-Related Articles, List of Cities in Mongolia, Prime Minister of Mongolia, List of Airports in Mongolia, List of Medieval Mongolian Tribes and Clans, List of Fish on Stamps of Mongolia, List of Presidents of Mongolia, List of Lakes in Mongolia, List of Mongolian Films, President of Mongolia, List of Diplomatic Missions of Mongolia, List of Mongolian Submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, List of Companies of Mongolia, Iso 3166-2:mn, List of Political Parties in Mongolia, List of Rivers in Mongolia, List of Diplomatic Missions in Mongolia, List of Airlines of Mongolia, List of Newspapers in Mongolia, List of Ambassadors of Mongolia to Russia, List of Universities in Mongolia, Vehicle Registration Plates of Mongolia. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 189. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: This is a sortable list of companies listed on the Mongolian Stock Exchange, including their English and Mongolian names, stock codes, and industries, as reflected on the exchange's official website. The list does not currently include information about companies which were delisted prior to 12 September 2007. The Mongolian Stock Exchange, based in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, is the world's smallest stock exchange by market capitalisation. ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=13228205 ... Read more

Product Description
This beautifully illustrated book offers the first inside view of how the breakup of the Soviet bloc has affected this farthest republic and its nomadic peoples. The first Western scholars to be given permission to conduct fieldwork in Mongolia, Melvyn Goldstein and Cynthia Beall lived among a community of herders to study how they were adapting to Mongolia's transition to democracy and a market economy.Weathering temperatures below zero, living in the nomads' ger, drinking suteytsai (milk-tea), eating bordzig (a pastry made from wheat dough) and pieces of solid fat (a Mongolian delicacy), Goldstein and Beall studied the seasonal migrations and traditional lifestyle of the nomads. They also watched as a herders' collective under the Marxist-Leninist system made the difficult transition to a shareholding company through the government's privatization reforms. The book's magnificent photographs and accompanying text introduce us to a proud people undergoing enormous change as their country emerges from years under communism. The Changing World of Mongolia's Nomads promises an engaging read for anyone interested in nomads, Mongolia, East and Central Asia, and the transformation of the Soviet Union. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Nomads Not Mad about Capitalism
Some books featuring photographs of faroff places fail to provide even a minimum of explanatory text.It's pix or nothing.Other, academic books, provide great masses of information without any pictures at all.Only a few, it seems to me, try to balance the two features.I must say that this one really hits the nail on the head.That's why I've given it five stars.It is a book full of beautiful photographs of Mongolia's stunning landscapes (and a remote part of the country at that) and the daily life of its nomadic population.But it also provides a very well-written and jargon-free study of why those nomads did not cheer the end of Communism and start of free-market capitalism wholeheartedly.The negdel, or herders' collective, may have been limiting in terms of freedom, but it offered a stable, fairly prosperous existence to people who had known the depths of privation not so long before.When Mongolia became a democracy in 1991, all the trappings of the old Communist system were to be scrapped.But as we know, political freedom does not guarantee economic stability.The nomads living 850 miles from the capital city rightly worried that their living standard might take a dive.It did.They did not take this lying down, however.The former collective leaders began to make deals around the country and with China as well in order to maintain the supply of goods that the nomads had come to expect as part of normal life.The narrative ends in 1993, so we don't know how things have turned out.There's plenty of standard anthropological information about nomad life, along with descriptions of the authors' experience.A very well-organized and presented book.OK, maybe it's short--maybe article length if you take out all the photos---and not academic enough for sticklers, but I found it most useful and interesting.There should be more like this.

Wonderful Insight into Mongolian Culture
Melvyn Goldstein and Cynthia M. Beall's anthropological study of a Mongolian herding community, presents an intimate portrait of life on the steppes and the dramatic changes these people have undergone through theprevious seventy years of Communism.In the introduction the authorsprovide a brief overview of Mongolian history from the conquests of thetwelfth century khans to the development of the Mongolian People'sRevolutionary Party under the Soviet System.While continually emphasizingthe nomadic herding economy, Goldstein and Beall's book is really a closelook at the lives of individuals and families and how they survive boththis harsh climate and the changing political and economicscene.

Goldstein and Beall first layout a the problem of survival in thedifficult environmental conditions on the steppes and the tenacity,illustrating the point with the tale of a herder found frozen to death ashe crawled toward his home, less than a kilometer from safety.It is thelivestock, contend the authors, that are the wealth and the security ofthese nomads.Herds are portable wealth on four legs of which no portionis wasted and each animal fulfills a specific function in the provision ofbasic needs: food, clothing, transportation."Climate drives theannual cycle of the nomads life" and determines the survival of bothherds and herder.

Goldstein and Beall stayed in the herding communityof Moost in the Altai Mountains.Particularly detailed descriptions oftraditional Mongolian hospitality--the exchange of snuff, the serving ofmilk-tea and "hospitality" foods--give a warm picture of anextremely outgoing and friendly people.The authors also give detaileddescriptions of daily activities: slaughtering a sheep, making cheese,drying milk curds.Most such work is part of a continual preparation forsurviving the extreme winters.Even ritual actions demonstrate thedifficulty of life on these steppes.Goldstein and Beall attended severalhair-cutting ceremonies for Mongolian children.This ritual first haircutdoes not take place until a child has reached the age of four or five,demonstrating that it is likely to survive childhood.

One of thequestions the authors had for the Mongols was how their lives had changedunder the Communist collectives and how they viewed the new free-marketeconomy.Surprisingly, the answer was generally a noncommittal shrug. When the collective system was first forced upon the Mongols by theCommunist government in 1927, herders slaughtered their animals rather thanturn them over to government ownership.A less direct approach was takenby the government which, through excessive taxation, forced the independentherders to turn to the collectives for survival in the same way that tribeshad traditionally banded together to survive adversity.The collectives,called negdels, took care of the business end of marketing the herds andproviding social services.Now men in positions of local authority fearthat herders will not be able to fend for themselves in a free-marketeconomy, while the herders not understanding those concepts go on as theyalways have, bartering in their small local markets for whatever they needand living off their herds.Since there was no concept of land ownershipbefore the collectives, the collective leaders divided negdels along atraditional boundaries of range areas--adapting the communist collective tothe nomadic lifestyle rather than the other way around.

Goldstein andBeall also describe in detail the mobile housing of the Mongols, thetraditional wooden-framed, felt-covered ger or yurt.Extremely portableand highly versatile, the ger is suited to the cold, high-wind climate ofthe steppes.Also significant to the nomadic lifestyle is the horse.Theauthors quote a thirteenth-century Chinese historian who said, "TheMongols are born in the saddle and grow up on horseback; they learn tofight by themselves as they spend all their life hunting theyear-round" --an observation that is still true today.Along withhorses the Mongols herd yaks, goats, sheep, and sometimes camels.The workof herding is no different under free-market economics than it was underthe negdels or in the old tribal systems and women and men workside-by-side.The difference now is primarily in the private ownership ofthe animals.Where, under communism, the collective marketed the animalsand made decisions about what animals to breed, the herder must now makethese choices.Mongols understood the negdel system because "thecollective economy incorporated important components of the traditionalsystem of Mongol nomadic pastoralism."

According to Goldstein andBeall, some of the major benefits under Communism includesd education inrural areas and a decent health care system, benefits that Mongols fearwill disappear under a freemarket economy.While the health care might notcompare to hospital standards in the United States is was remarkable thatthe women of Moost enjoyed not only free prenatal care, maternity leave,and hospital childbirth under socialism, but also received a governmentstipend for each child at birth and again at sixmonths of age.Governmentpensions for women at age 50-55 (or as early as age 36 if they had four ormore children) and for men at age 55-60 provide a surety for old age thathelped to raise the standard of living for the herders.

Not only is thisbook a must in any scholarly study of Mongolian Culture, it is afascinating and well-written text.I highly recommend it to anyoneinterested in Central Asian culture.

Wonderful Insight into Mongolian Culture
Melvyn Goldstein and Cynthia M. Beall's anthropological study of a Mongolian herding community, presents an intimate portrait of life on the steppes and the dramatic changes these people have undergone through theprevious seventy years of Communism.In the introduction the authorsprovide a brief overview of Mongolian history from the conquests of thetwelfth century khans to the development of the Mongolian People'sRevolutionary Party under the Soviet System.While continually emphasizingthe nomadic herding economy, Goldstein and Beall's book is really a closelook at the lives of individuals and families and how they survive boththis harsh climate and the changing political and economicscene.

Goldstein and Beall first layout a the problem of survival in thedifficult environmental conditions on the steppes and the tenacity,illustrating the point with the tale of a herder found frozen to death ashe crawled toward his home, less than a kilometer from safety.It is thelivestock, contend the authors, that are the wealth and the security ofthese nomads.Herds are portable wealth on four legs of which no portionis wasted and each animal fulfills a specific function in the provision ofbasic needs: food, clothing, transportation."Climate drives theannual cycle of the nomads life" and determines the survival of bothherds and herder.

Goldstein and Beall stayed in the herding communityof Moost in the Altai Mountains.Particularly detailed descriptions oftraditional Mongolian hospitality--the exchange of snuff, the serving ofmilk-tea and "hospitality" foods--give a warm picture of anextremely outgoing and friendly people.The authors also give detaileddescriptions of daily activities: slaughtering a sheep, making cheese,drying milk curds.Most such work is part of a continual preparation forsurviving the extreme winters.Even ritual actions demonstrate thedifficulty of life on these steppes.Goldstein and Beall attended severalhair-cutting ceremonies for Mongolian children.This ritual first haircutdoes not take place until a child has reached the age of four or five,demonstrating that it is likely to survive childhood.

One of thequestions the authors had for the Mongols was how their lives had changedunder the Communist collectives and how they viewed the new free-marketeconomy.Surprisingly, the answer was generally a noncommittal shrug. When the collective system was first forced upon the Mongols by theCommunist government in 1927, herders slaughtered their animals rather thanturn them over to government ownership.A less direct approach was takenby the government which, through excessive taxation, forced the independentherders to turn to the collectives for survival in the same way that tribeshad traditionally banded together to survive adversity.The collectives,called negdels, took care of the business end of marketing the herds andproviding social services.Now men in positions of local authority fearthat herders will not be able to fend for themselves in a free-marketeconomy, while the herders not understanding those concepts go on as theyalways have, bartering in their small local markets for whatever they needand living off their herds.Since there was no concept of land ownershipbefore the collectives, the collective leaders divided negdels along atraditional boundaries of range areas--adapting the communist collective tothe nomadic lifestyle rather than the other way around.

Goldstein andBeall also describe in detail the mobile housing of the Mongols, thetraditional wooden-framed, felt-covered ger or yurt.Extremely portableand highly versatile, the ger is suited to the cold, high-wind climate ofthe steppes.Also significant to the nomadic lifestyle is the horse.Theauthors quote a thirteenth-century Chinese historian who said, "TheMongols are born in the saddle and grow up on horseback; they learn tofight by themselves as they spend all their life hunting theyear-round" --an observation that is still true today.Along withhorses the Mongols herd yaks, goats, sheep, and sometimes camels.The workof herding is no different under free-market economics than it was underthe negdels or in the old tribal systems and women and men workside-by-side.The difference now is primarily in the private ownership ofthe animals.Where, under communism, the collective marketed the animalsand made decisions about what animals to breed, the herder must now makethese choices.Mongols understood the negdel system because "thecollective economy incorporated important components of the traditionalsystem of Mongol nomadic pastoralism."

According to Goldstein andBeall, some of the major benefits under Communism includesd education inrural areas and a decent health care system, benefits that Mongols fearwill disappear under a freemarket economy.While the health care might notcompare to hospital standards in the United States is was remarkable thatthe women of Moost enjoyed not only free prenatal care, maternity leave,and hospital childbirth under socialism, but also received a governmentstipend for each child at birth and again at sixmonths of age.Governmentpensions for women at age 50-55 (or as early as age 36 if they had four ormore children) and for men at age 55-60 provide a surety for old age thathelped to raise the standard of living for the herders.

Not only is thisbook a must in any scholarly study of Mongolian Culture, it is afascinating and well-written text.I highly recommend it to anyoneinterested in Central Asian culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Terrific modern miracle story!
This book is very readable and covers the entire sweep of the the Mongolian people meeting Jesus Christ in the 1990's. The author lived the story from start to finish. ... Read more

Product Description

The “Encyclopedia of Buddhism” provides a comprehensive overview of one of Asia's most important religious and social forces, describing the Buddhist worldview, basic teachings and practices, history, and the different schools and sects. This intriguing set illuminates a religion that is a mystery to most Westerners by exploring Buddhist scriptures, art, architecture, saints, demons, monastic orders, festivals, rites and ceremonies, as well as the different forms Buddhism has taken in different parts of the world, and how it has blended with other religions like Shinto, Confucianism, Daoism and Christianity.

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 3901 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Advances in technology continue to accelerate the pace at which people and companies are doing business with entities in foreign countries. As a result, the demand for comprehensive, up-to-date economic information about foreign companies has increased as well. The Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies satisfies this immediate need and provides a thorough understanding of the current and historical economic development of foreign nations. Clearly arranged by country within broad geographic regions, the Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies provides accurate, in-depth analysis of each country's economic environment, reliable statistics on the country's current economic conditions and trends and key demographics of the nation's citizens. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 843 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.The Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450 provides students and researchers with a much-needed, comprehensive resource on the subject of colonialism and expansion. From a global perspective, the set traces many facets of colonial growth and imperialism, including Europe's overseas expansion into the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific, beginning in the 15th century; the collapse of empires; race relations in decolonized regions; and current examples of continuing dependence by much of the developing world on Western nations (often former colonial powers themselves). In addition, a number of articles address the ideology and theories behind colonialism and imperialism, as well as the major and controversial issues at the core of the debate on colonialism and its consequences, such as Apartheid in South Africa, the Maji Mahi Revolt, and the Minas Gerais Conspiracy. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Countries and Their Cultures, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 879 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Covers the broad range of popular religious culture of the United States at the close of the twentieth century. Beliefs, practices, symbols, traditions, movements, organizations, and leaders from the many traditions in the pluralistic American community are represented. Also includes cults and phenomena that drew followers, such as Heaven's Gale and UFOs. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 3020 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices provides information on current religious practices around the world with an emphasis on how religions impact the daily lives of their followers. Included are detailed entries on 13 major religions, such as Christianity and Islam, and entries on 28 religious subgroups, such as Shi'ites or Baptists.Provides Date of Origin, Dietary Practices, Number of Followers, Social Aspects, Controversial Issues, Major Theologians and Authors, Cultural Impact, Houses of Worship, Holy Places, What is Sacred, Rituals, Rites of Passage, Festivals and Holidays, Membership, Social Justice, Modes of Dress and Founder.Also includes significant religions in 193 countries that detail History, Political Impact, Other Religions, Religious Tolerance and more. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
The author travels from Peking, across the centre of Asia to Leningrad, encountering a host of characters who enable him to piece together Mongolia's turbulent history. He uncovers the unique cultural heritage of a country hidden from the West until only recently. Along the way he uncovers Japanese attempts during World War II to place a descendant of Genghis Khan at the head of a new Mongolian state, recounts the horrors of Stalin's rule when 20 per cent of the population was liquidated and the monasteries were destroyed, discovers the real location of Shangri-La and visits the high mountains of the north where the last surviving shamans summon up the spirits of the dead. ... Read more