The World's Most Dangerous Places

Robert Young Pelton's The World's Most Dangerous Places is a frequently updated handbook written by Pelton and an unusual crew of contributors. Although it is not meant to be used as an actual travel guide, like Frommer's, the book's advice to staying alive and the facts about the world's most dystopian countries is still unique in the publishing world.^[2] It continues to be the only non-aligned, apolitical, on-the-ground guide to high risk regions. It is as much a primer on political science as it is a humorous book about the impressive ability for apparently rational humans to routinely plunge their world into chaos and violence.^[3][4]

Breakdown

The first edition came out in 1994 and has gone through 5 editions. The next edition is in development along with a new television series.

The thick book is divided into three basic parts. The intro is a primer on the basics of staying safe in war zones and high crime areas.

The second section is a country by country breakdown of what Pelton considers to be the most dangerous places. It usually includes about 26 countries or regions including the US. They would then be broken down to a rating of 5 stars to 1 star.

The final and third element of this book (besides web links, addresses and even cell phone numbers for terrorist and rebel leaders) are the stories of what it is like for Pelton and his band of DP'ers to be in the middle of some of the planets most brutal events. They freely tell the reader how they got in, who they met and many of their failures. The book is a favorite of correspondents, military, NGO's, the US State Department, and is used by a number of intelligence agencies due to its access to the world's rebel groups.

Bibliography

• Robert Young Pelton. Licensed to Kill, Hired Guns in the War on Terror (Reprint edition (August 28, 2007) ed.). Three Rivers Press. pp. 368. ISBN 1400097827. 
• Robert Young Pelton. The World's Most Dangerous Places (April 1, 2003 ed.). Collins. pp. 1088. ISBN 0060011602. 
• Robert Young Pelton. The Adventurist, My Life In Dangerous Places (June 19, 2001 ed.). Broadway. pp. 268. ISBN 0767905768. 
• Robert Young Pelton. Hunter Hammer and Heaven, Journeys to Three World's Gone Mad (January 1, 2002 ed.). The Lyons Press. pp. 320. ISBN 1585744166. 
• Robert Young Pelton. Come Back Alive (June 1, 1999 ed.). Main Street Books. pp. 304. ISBN 0385495668. 
• Robert Young Pelton. Hired Guns (June 28, 2007 ed.). Constable and Robinson. pp. 320. ISBN 1845295900. 
• The Best American Travel Writing
• Best Adventure and Travel Stories
• Robert Young Pelton; Mark Bowden; Tracy Kidder; Philip Taubman Nate Hardcastle; Clint Willis eds. American Soldier: Stories of Special Forces from Iraq to Afghanistan (First Edition edition (October 27, 2002) ed.) Da Capo Press pp. 364 ISBN 1560254386 
• Boots on the Ground
• Robert Young Pelton. Fielding's Hot Spots, Travel in Harm's Way (December 1997 ed.). Fielding Worldwide. pp. 256. ISBN 1569521662. 
• Robert Young Pelton. Fielding's Borneo: The Adventurous Guide to the Island of Borneo Covering Brunei, Kalimantan, Sabah and Sarawak/1995 (Fielding's Borneo) (June 1995 ed.). Fielding Worldwide. pp. 704. ISBN 1569520267. 
• Robert Young Pelton. Three Worlds Gone Mad: Dangerous Journeys through the War Zones of Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific (First edition (December 1, 2003) ed.). The Lyons Press. pp. 320. ISBN 1592281001. 

References

External links

• Come Back Alive website with list of the most dangerous places in the world