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Bradt Travel Guides

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Bradt Travel Guides
Company typeTravel publishing
Founded1974
HeadquartersChalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
Key people
Hilary Bradt
ProductsTravel guides
Website[1]

Bradt Travel Guides is a publisher of travel guides founded by Hilary Bradt who was awarded an MBE in 2008 for services to the Tourist Industry and to Charity.[1] The first Bradt Guide was written in 1974 by Hilary and her husband George on a river barge on a tributary of the Amazon,[2] and has since grown into a leading boutique publisher, with growth particularly in the past decade.

The publisher is based in Chalfont St. Peter in Buckinghamshire, England but also co-publishes with Globe Pequot in Guilford, Connecticut in the United States. The guides have been cited by The Independent as covering "parts of the world other travel publishers don't reach".[2] The guides may cover countries of the world normally covered in guides but often have detailed guides to parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America which traditionally have not been widely covered or did not have a long history of tourism.

The guides give a brief summary of the history of the country or city that lies at the heart of the book. Each guide then covers the tourism basics such as geography and climate, wildlife, languages and culture, healthcare and media. Subsequent chapters are then usually arranged on a geographical basis, addressing the main cities or regions of the country in systematic order. They may have some details on smaller towns and villages not normally mentioned in guides or may have detailed case studies on culture or beliefs specific to the country with which it deals. According to Michael Palin; "Bradt Guides are expertly written and longer on local detail than any others".[2]

Bradt books often provides information on topics related to the area of travel, but not specifically about tourist or travel amenities. For example, the somewhat awkwardly-named The Amazon: The Bradt Travel Guide dedicates 60 pages to the area's natural history — more space than any other chapter, including practical information and the individual country chapters.[3]

More recently the Bradt Guides have begun publishing specific books such as wildlife in places such as the Galapagos Islands and Madagascar, an island in which Bradt is an expert.[4][5]

They have also begun an "Eccentric" series which are detailed insights into some of the cities in the United Kingdom including London, Edinburgh and Oxford as well as on the countries of the United Kingdom, France and Australia.

The guides are often written by writers who have had hands-on experience within the country or region they are writing about. They may also be written somewhat unconventionally compared with normal tourist guides. Bradt books often relay information about the nature of the local people, based on the experiences of the author in various cities. The health chapters are written in collaboration with a well-travelled doctor: Jane Wilson-Howarth or Felicity Nicholson.

Countries/areas covered by the guides

Asia and Australia

References

  1. ^ "No. 58729". The London Gazette (invalid |supp= (help)). 14 June 2008.
  2. ^ a b c Butler, Stuart (2006). Benin. Guilford, Connecticut: Bradt Travel Guides, The Globe Pequot Press.
  3. ^ Roger Harris and Peter Hutchison (2007). The Amazon: The Bradt Travel Guide (3rd ed.). Bradt Travel Guides.
  4. ^ Hilary Bradt (2007). Madagascar travel guide (9th ed.). Bradt Travel Guides.
  5. ^ Nick Garbutt, Hilary Bradt and Derek Schuurman (2001). Madagascar Wildlife guide (2nd ed.). Bradt Travel Guides.
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