The Rough Guide to Romania - 4th Edition - Tim Burford, Norm Longley, Dan Richardson

It is time the truth was told about Transylvania, and this book certainly tells the reader exactly that.

Marosvásárhely (targu mures), Kolozsvár (cluj), Nagyvárad (oradea) were all Hungarian (Magyar) cities, and indeed the whole of Transylvania is a Hungarian land that is now occupied by romania. The fact is that Hungarian Transylvania was Hungarian for over a thousand years, and it was only torn from Hungary in the Trianon Diktat of 1921. Romanians, please stop telling us that Transylvania isn't Hungarian, because historically speaking it is! Transylvanian cities were overwhelmingly Magyar or German in population until they became part of romania when romanians migrated to these cities from outside Transylvania. Hungarians are not recent immigrants in Transylvania, but many romanians are.

Out-of-date reviews, up-to-date book! (8/11 people found this helpful)

The tired old reviews complaining that the Rough Guide to Romania talks only about tired old hotels should be removed - the book has been updated and does give a fair picture of Romania today. I suspect the references to Hungarian culture are so noticeable because minority cultures are of particular interest to foreign visitors - of course the majority culture is covered and appreciated, but why bother saying 'this is a typically Romanian town' all the time??

Very Rough! (10/21 people found this helpful)

Firstly they slag off my wifes home town (Onesti) as an ugly chemical town, obviously they just went past on the train, because they missed one of the most impressive museums of Slavic Romanian Bibles and Religous artifacts in Romania, next to a beautiful church built by order of Stephan the Great (where incidently I got married). They also write off some hotels that we have stayed at as either "piles" or "too expensive", which they were neither. I'll give some charity and say that most hotels in the last 3 years have been renovated, but if you bring out regular updates, you should ensure they are correct.

It is a must NOT! (15/31 people found this helpful)

Although The Rough Guide must be praised for their devotion in writing up-to-date guides, this book is offending for most Romanians. It seems that the authors tried to present Romania from a subjective Hungarian point of view. Ideas like "the great Magyar cities of Targu Mures, Cluj and Oradea" or "the largely Hungarian Csango and Szekelyfold regions" not only that should have been avoided but the historic true must have been presented. These ideas basically question the Romanian authority over this land. There are cities/regions in Romania inhabited by Magyars or hungarians minorities but that does not mean that you can label a city/region as being Magyar. The Magyars or Huns did not build these cities or originally own the land. They migrated here. Can you name Leeds as "the great Pakistani city? What about Marseilles: "the great Moroccan city"?

This book paints a pretty dismal picture of Romania. (9/12 people found this helpful)

I've used this book for almost 3 years. Although it does provide a lot of useful information, I found it very negative about Romania in general. Accommodation and restaurants change a lot in Romania so it is difficult for this section to be accurate. Usually I'm a rough guide fan but in the case of Romania, I found the lonely planet much better.

The Rough Guide to Romania - 4th Edition

Tim Burford, Norm Longley, Dan Richardson

Reader Reviews:

This book is a must! (2/3 people found this helpful)

Out-of-date reviews, up-to-date book! (8/11 people found this helpful)

Very Rough! (10/21 people found this helpful)

It is a must NOT! (15/31 people found this helpful)

This book paints a pretty dismal picture of Romania. (9/12 people found this helpful)

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