Neil Reid Lizard Peninsula and Helford River Guidebook

This is how books ought to be. There's no time wasted concerning itself with who published it or the ISBN references or what print this is or who published it or when or to whom it is dedicated. Nope, you just jump straight on in with some illustrations of sea birds on the first page. No title, no rationale. Only when you turn the page do you get an introduction.

Fabulous - this book is the charming, idiosyncratic, ever-so-slightly bonkers approach to conveying useful travel information that harks back probably to an almost Edwardian era. The stuff of detail mentioned here is the rock formations or the Lizard peninsula, and some history on shipwrecks in the vicinity.

The information is brought to life beautifully through the illustrations that are strewn throughout. Even the maps are prone to some artistic license, not least to convey the rock formations, recommended walks (which ARE excellent) and other items of interest.

Then you find yourself squinting at rather modest photographs of the area to get a sense, but not really a true image, or the locale. You have to use the drawings and some fairly rudimentary descriptions to get your understanding.

With bias on vast amounts of information packed tightly into guidebooks, with photos, accoommodation, ratings, places to eat, etc. this very modest attempt - part of the "Friendly Guide" series looks almost anachronistic and rather ameteurishly done.

But it is precisely for that reason that you would use this book probably more often than you would use your Rough Guide or Lonely Planet. For starters, it is concentrating on a very small area indeed - the Lizard. The scale of the map is so small you can find the cottage you are staying in is actually listed on it (I won't say which one we were in!). The descriptions are so obviously personal viewpoints and perhaps a little bit of product placement (there are adverts on the back cover, after all), that you have to take them seriously, and indeed (trust me) they are almost without exception excellent endorsements.

Go into any book store or Amazon or wherever, and you will be daunted by the array of travel books on any destination. Usually the rough guides, lonely planets and other "series" or franchise books have got your destination wrapped up. But dig further and you will find the independent writer, the enthusiast, with probably some local connection, giving a more personal and heart-felt perspective. Plus of course the information may be more concentrated on one area. There will be downsides, including poor consistency, lack of breadth, and perhaps some risk that information will go out of date. But tolerate the spelling errors and poor publishing finesse because it is these books that are (or at least were) the lifeblood of travel, and it is in them that you will find the true off-the-beaten-track gems.