This was such an informative read with lots of information about beautiful heritage sites around the world.

Have to say that whilst I was curious to know how anyone could possible produce a "handy" reference to the World's Heritage, I was totally persuaded by the picture of Bagan on the front cover - my favourite place on the planet.

Sadly I went somewhat off the boil when I started to look closely at what is on offer in this book because, as a dictionary of the World's Heritage sites, it is even thinner on details than a good dictionary.

In my case, I checked out Myanmar to see which sites were mentioned other than Bagan and discovered just one more and barely a thimble full of information on either.

I sincerely hope this book finds a market as I like its basic idea but, with a heavy heart, I have to say this reference volume should be online where it could have the myriad of links to all of the details this volume is so in need of.

I am very sorry to have to rate this volume with 3 Stars as it is an interesting book but could not honestly offer more Stars as, for me at least, it needs to be more than a basic dictionary.

The World's Heritage is a visually stunning guide to UNESCO's World Heritage sites. Each site is beautifully illustrated with color photos and accompanied by a concise description. While I appreciated the comprehensive coverage of all listed sites, I found the chronological arrangement to be somewhat impractical. For travellers planning a trip, it would be more helpful to organise the sites by region. This would allow for easier planning and exploration of specific areas. Despite this minor drawback, The World's Heritage is a valuable resource for anyone interested in discovering the world's cultural and natural treasures.

This was such a needed book. It is an extensive guide and a wonderful resource with many details, a comprehensive guide (all 1100 something sites are included) and an inspirational title. The sites are presented in chronological order of when they became a UNESCO world heritage site, a longer contextual information and a snippet-like interesting fact section.
In terms of the content, this is excellent.
The maps are very useful, and perhaps, more importantly this resource is a warning to humanity.

The design was not my cup of tea. That is the only and subjective comment I have about this book.
4.5 stars

This is a great resource for schools, coffee shops, and institutions and corporations that have libraries.

This is a good choice for the armchair traveller, or as a gift for someone interested in culture and/or travel. The use as a practical guide is limited, this is more of a coffee table book - inspiration and pleasure rather than detailed trip planning.

All of the current World Heritage sites are included, in order of inscription on the list. There is a small description of each, and many (but not all) have lovely colour photos. I enjoyed flicking through, stumbling across places I'd never heard of, and reminiscing about the ones I've visited myself. There isn't practical detail here about how to get there, opening times etc. - but most people get that online anyway so I don't see it as a big disadvantage.

I personally think it would be better to order the sites by location, rather than date of inscription, as people are likely to want to look at a particular region. For example, if you were visiting a particular area, you might want to see what sites are located there. You would have to spend a lot of time going back and forth and using the index to do that with this book. There is an index, but it's not hyperlinked (at least in version I reviewed) so you can't navigate from it.

This would make a nice gift for someone who enjoys travel or thinking about travel

This updated book lists all current 1,199 UNESCO World Heritage sites according to the date they became a World Heritage site (starting with the Galapagos Islands in 1978 and ending with the 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid in Saudi Arabia, added in 2023). Each entry is comprised of the name of the site and the country in which it is located, a small map, a colour photo, a brief description and some further information. The sites are marked green for natural sites and red for cultural sites. For easy finding, there is a map at the beginning with all the sites and the page on which they are featured. At the end, there is an index per country and one for the sites. There are also full-page colour photos interspersed throughout the book.
This would make a gorgeous coffee table book!

A recommended read for those who love to armchair travel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Collins Reference for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.