Informative, stimulating, and provocative, the book deserves to be read by a wideaudience, with its discourse embracing the gamut of sustainability and developmentstudies. It is absolutely essential reading for all those serious scholars of tourism stud-ies wishing to appreciate ‘‘the bigger picture’’. This audience should be all of us(otherwise, how can scholars consider themselves, or be considered, ‘‘serious’’?).This text provides a much-needed contextualization and wider awareness of tour-ism. It is also a ‘‘must’’ for students, probably best suited to those on final year under-graduate and postgraduate tourism programs. But, as with their lecturers, studentsin development studies and related fields should also be aware of this vital text.

Brian Wheeller: Department of International Programs, Breda University ofProfessional Education, Mgr. Hopmansstraat 1, PO Box 3917, 4800 DX, Breda,The Netherlands. Email: <wheeller.b@nhtv.nl>

REFERENCES

Brown, F.1998 Tourism Reassessed. Blight or Blessing? Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

McKercher, B.1999 A Chaos Approach to Tourism. Tourism Management 20:425–434.

Simon, P.1968 The Boxer. Los Angeles: Pattern.

Assigned 23 September 2003. Submitted 28 July 2004. Accepted 9 August 2004

doi:10.1016/j.annals.2004.08.001

The Global Nomad: Backpacker Travelin Theory and Practice

Edited by Greg Richards and Julie Wilson. Channel View <www.chan-nelviewpublications.com> 2004 , xi + 298 pp (tables, notes, references,index) $39.95 Pbk. ISBN 1-873150-76-8

Young-Sook LeeGriffith University, Australia

This volume provides a valuable insight into the phenomenon of backpackers inboth theoretical and practical perspectives. At the departure point of the book,backpackers—treated as global nomads—are conceptualized mainly in the contextof modern and postmodern societal modes of the West. This book will appeal toanyone who is interested in the social phenomena reflected in the form of tourism,and to those who are in the area of tourism with a sociocultural, anthropological,or managerial focus.

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The volume is organized into four parts. Acknowledging the growing need tounderstand this phenomenon, Greg Richards and Julie Wilson open the book bydescribing the motivations for setting up the Backpacker Research Group and thenpresenting the findings from a global survey. The study identifies backpackers, des-tinations visited, motivations and activities, and basic trip characteristics. This inves-tigation reveals that backpackers are a nonhomogeneous group of people despitesome seemingly common traits.

Part two opens with Eric Cohen’s critical comparison of classic drifters of the60s/70s with today’s backpackers. He draws relationships among tramping, drift-ers, and present backpackers, pointing out that ‘‘the model for the drifter wasthe tramp, the drifter is the model for the backpacker’’ (p. 44). He then showsthe inherent disparities between ideology and practice of contemporary backpack-ers, including an examination of the concept of the rite de passage as a heuristic de-vice for understanding backpackers. The current lack of attention to backpackersof different nationalities is further pointed out before the chapter ends withsuggestions for future research.

Irena Ateljevic and Stephen Doorne review the literature in chapter 4. Theyshow that the work by Vogt (1976) and Cohen (1972, 1973, 1979) provided thefoundation for research on the phenomenon, where an emphasis on freedomand mobility is central. Research exploring internal complexities and externaldevelopments emerged in the 80s and it is argued that the semantic shift to‘‘the backpacker’’ reflects a new and coherent market niche. Next, Peter Welkidentifies and traces the importance of an anti-tourist attitude as an element ofthe backpacker. Defining this as a tourist subculture, he argues that mainstreamtourism is the opposite side of the same coin, as backpackers do not reflect thewhole society but only themselves.

Jana Binder emphasizes the importance of a qualitative approach to understand-ing the backpacking phenomenon. She echos Cohen’s argument as she points outthat the emphasis of research on backpacking should be on its dynamic and di-verse nature. Darya Maoz examines Israeli backpackers and finds two distinctivepatterns. ‘‘Conquerors’’ are aggressive and usually have recently completed theirmilitary services and ‘‘settlers’’ are young adults more open to experiencing theenvironment and less intense in attitudes. Part two closes with Wilson and Rich-ard’s look at literary influences on the formation of backpacker identity. Theyexamine iconic travel writers, arguing that backpacking today is better seen as acontinuum of sub-ideologies of its own than as a homogeneous phenomenon.

Part three focuses on profiling backpackers in practice. Clare Speed and TonyHarrison examine barriers to the development of the informal backpacking seg-ment in Scotland. Offering an interesting contrast, Lee Slaughter describes therapid recognition and adaptation of this niche by the tourism industry andgovernment in Australia with detailed identification of backpacker markets inthe country. Malcolm Cooper, Kieran O’Mahony and Patricia Erfurt trace the Har-vest Trail Circuit in Australia, arguing that backpackers are not nomads but stay onthe beaten track with respect to employment opportunities in rural areas. DeniseKain and Brian King examine how inbound (to Australia) backpackers gatherinformation and what factors influence their decisionmaking. Suggestions for fu-ture research are made along with some implications for supply issues. Part threeconcludes with two chapters on New Zealand. Ken Newlands profiles backpackersin this country and, like several authors, argues that they do not have homoge-neous motivations, activities, and travel styles. Paul Vance applies the conceptualframework of transport choice process to backpackers in New Zealand. The utilityof this framework is confirmed even in this relatively small destination.

The final part revisits the issues, notions, and suggestions covered in thisvolume. Richards and Wilson affirm the symbolic role of backpackers in tourism

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debates—hence its value for researchers and practitioners—while keeping the nat-ure of their experiences in the center. They argue that ‘‘a hybridization of cul-tures’’ (p. 255) perhaps best describes the very nature of the nomad syndrome,which is echoed when describing the phenomenon as a state of ‘‘suspension’’and the backpackers’, being satisfied with the notion of ‘‘neither here nor there’’(p. 257). Aspects of time, space, identity, and ‘‘safe danger’’ as part of their expe-riences are further detailed before the concluding suggestions for future research.

This volume provides a significant departure point for more systematic and com-prehensive research on the backpacker phenomenon. It is clearly laid out and veryenjoyable to read. The authors’ evident fascination and enthusiasm for their subjectwill certainly attract more researchers to this important area. Their eagerness forfuture research activities throughout this volume is one thing that is hard to miss.

Young-Sook Lee: Department of Tourism, Leisure Hotel and Sport Management,Griffith University, Gold Coast QLD 9726, Australia. Email <young-sook.lee@griffith.edu.au>

REFERENCES

Cohen, E.1972 Toward a Sociology of International Tourism. Social Research 39:164–182.1973 Nomads from Affluence: Notes on the Phenomenon of Drifter-Tourism.

International Journal of Comparative Sociology 14:89–103.1979 A phenomenology of Tourist Experiences. Sociology 13:179–201.

Vogt, J.1976 Wandering: Youth and Travel Behaviour. Annals of Tourism Research

4:25–41.

Assigned 23 June 2004. Submitted 27 August 2004. Resubmitted 8 September 2004. Accepted 10September 2004

doi:10.1016/j.annals.2004.09.002

Ocean Travel and Cruising:A Cultural Analysis

By Arthur Asa Berger. The Haworth Hospitality Press <www.haworth-pressinc.com> 2004, xv + 126 pp (figures, references, index) $24.95Pbk. ISBN 0-7890-2198-6

Paul F. WilkinsonYork University, Toronto, Canada

Berger begins by noting, ‘‘I have written a great number of books, around fifty—probably more than I should have’’ (p. xii). This latest book certainly proves he was

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