Spanning the world, from Northeast Europe to Southeast Asia, these 260 photos offer a spectacular view of regions of unimaginable, often haunting beauty. Many of the images, from the National Geographic Society's 10 million-image archive, have never been published before. Meditative introductions to each region of the world consider questions such as our stereotypical views of Asia and the ambiguity of evocations of the Middle East, their meaning "depending largely on what one believes." But the real attraction is the full-color photos: sometimes mysterious, like Karen Kasmaski's photos of sunflowers with Mount Fuji emerging from the shadows in the background; or playful, like Miguel Luis Fairbanks's woman driving in Australia with a young koala bear on her shoulder. Some are charming, like Steve McCurry's image of women in a field in Yemen, their hats bobbing above the lush clover; and still others present the natural world in an original light, like Anup and Manoj Sha's photo of a herd of zebras in Kenya, op-arty with its zigzags of black and white stripes. Not all the photos evoke pleasant images: the ravages of war in Croatia and the 2003 invasion of Iraq crop up, adding a dose of unhappy realities. Still, dipping anywhere into this volume offers a feast for the eyes and introduction to parts of the world most are unlikely ever to visit.

　　This book is large: in format, in scope, in pages, and in its effect on the reader. Travel is all about place, of course, as this gorgeous album's subtitle indicates. The editors of National Geographic have culled from their archives a treasure trove of photographs, many never previously published, that evoke a certain moment in a certain small corner of the globe. The entire globe is the book's purview--all continents and every imaginable setting, from city to desert, and from a snowy national park to a birthday celebration in Mexico. A lovely book to savor forever.

美国国家地理学会成立于1988年，为全球最大的非营利性科学教育机构。一百多年来，学会秉持“增进并传播地理知识”的宗旨，赞助了8000项以上的研究探索计划，并用优秀的杂志、地图、书籍、电影和交互媒体产品鼓励人们保护地球。众多的科学家、探险家、摄影师、电视工作者和作者队伍肩负学会使命，来往于世界各地，辛勤工作，为学会赢得显赫荣誉。著名的黄框标志成为令人向往的探险与优质标记，见于全球每个国家和越来越多的语言中。