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Title: The Spirit of Asia: Journeys to the Sacred Places of the East by Michael Freeman, Alistair Shearer ISBN: 0500510237 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: October, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $40.00

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Average Customer Rating: 4

Rating: 4
Summary: A first-rate "coffee-table" book!
Comment: This is in the style of a coffee-table book, with very large pictures and rather superficial, accessory text. But the text is accurate, and often even interesting and informative. It is heavily influenced by the theories of Mircea Eliade.

Of course the most important feature of this book is the pictures, and they are excellent.

The book covers a wide range of religious sites and varieties: Burmese Nats, Thai Spirits, Hinduism, Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. It features the standard important monuments, such as Angkor Wat and Borobodur, as well as lesser known sites like Sagaing, Burma or Si Satchanalai, Thailand. Altogether 38 sites are covered. Three unfortunate omissions are Mount Tai Shan and the Temple of Heaven in China, and Shikoku island in Japan. Perhaps something from Bhutan would have been nice as well. I find its coverage of ancestor woship and Shinto lacking.

If the book has an obvious, glaring weakness, it is the absence of Islamic sites. Islam has been influential in the East, so even if not considered an Eastern religion it has interesting Eastern manifestations--for instance the Taj Mahal. Its absence is at least as unfortunate as the inadequate coverage of ancestor worship.

I am obviously rather picky, but for the price and the photograph quality, this is a first-rate bargain, and might well spark someone's interest in travel or further reading--the ultimate value of any coffee-table book.

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