Uruguay
Posted by nickredmayne on 25 June 2010
Winners of the first soccer World Cup, in whose waters WW2 pocket battleship Graf Spee finally pulled the plug, and point of origin for the Fray Bentos meat pie phenomena – already Uruguay encompasses enough historic trivia for a free pass into the twilight zone of pub quiz celebrity. Combine this with the knowledge that Britain’s ‘literary Mick Jagger’, Martin Amis, chose to leave London for Uruguay, and a secret suspicion that the capital city Montevideo inspired a global home entertainment empire, and South America has never scored so highly on intrigue…
The new Bradt guide describes the continent’s second smallest country as one of the region’s most peaceful states, with minimal corruption and almost 100% literacy. And it’s not just an author’s indulgent hyperbole – in 2008 The Economist characterised Montevideo as the most ‘liveable’ city in Latin America. Author Tim Burford suggests ‘Uruguay has a similar relationship to Argentina as Canada has to the United States, Ireland to the United Kingdom, or Belgium to France – a permanent sense of being overshadowed by a larger, louder neighbour, while feeling deep inside that they are the smarter, wittier, more creative ones.’ Burford looks beyond football, battleships and meat pies to explore Montevideo’s Art Deco architecture, the coast’s boho-chic fishing villages, endless pristine beaches, wildlife-suffused wetlands and lagoons, and gets lost under the big skies of vast prairie grasslands. Uruguay is the country’s first and only dedicated English-language guidebook, yet even without this qualification the wealth of original and up-to-date research manifest within its covers makes Bradt’s guide the best companion for all leisure and business travellers.
Tim Burford studied languages at Oxford and began writing for Bradt in 1991. Initially covering hiking in eastern and central Europe, he progressed to backpacking and ecotourism in Latin America. Having now completed nine Bradt guides, he love trains and rail travel, flying only across oceans by virtue of necessity.
Title: Uruguay
Author: Tim Burford
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
Publication: June 2010
Price: £15.99
ISBN: 978 1 84162 316 0
