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jcravens42's review
4.0
I work in international aid and development, and I think having a travel guide for any country I'm going to is a must. And I almost always choose Lonely Planet. I love setting the book out on my desk and seeing aid workers scoff at a "tourism" book - and then, at the end of the day, sheepishly come into my office and ask to borrow it. This particular edition was written pre-Maidan, but the authors were definitely here and aware, because the hints that some kind of big change is coming is everywhere in the book. Even though a lot has changed post-Maidan - and the entire chapter on Crimea now is oh-so-sad : most of the Tatars have now fled to Western Ukraine, and there's a very big clamp down on press freedom in Crimea (and definitely don't mention homosexuality if you go there now) -- this book is still excellent and still worth getting if you are coming to Ukraine, and unless the Russians do invade and push to Kyiv, it will be a fine guide for at least a few years to come. My only criticism: they left out Korosten (Ukrainian: Ко́ростень, Russian: Ко́ростень). The old WWII bunker there is, IMO, worth the trip, and I hear there's a rather awesome potato pancake festival there every September.
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