The Rough Guide to Australia is one of the most impressive additions to the already prestigious Rough Guide series, and weighing in at over a thousand pages, it's also one of the most physically imposing. But anything short of this would hardly be appropriate to this most breathtaking of continents, and it has to be said that the team of contributors have covered the country in the most thorough and masterly of fashions. The maps are always a speciality of this series, but the prospect of exploring even the remotest corners of Australia is rendered more than achievable by the cartography on offer here.

What the guide sets out to do, however, has something in common with all the series: to inspire us to visit the country by some of the most tempting photography (along with the text) -- and the latter is a particular asset here. Of course, there is so much to explore in Australia that it is difficult to know where to begin. But such sections as that on the Gold Coast Hinterland will inspire the more fit explorer to tackle the rugged (and less readily accessible) walking tracks and hiking trails, taking in the beech forests and waterfalls.

But the guide will also have you wishing to experience Marine Mountain, a volcanic plateau near the Gold Coast which still has pockets of rainforest, and once was the haunt of the Wangeriburra Aborigines.

As all of this implies, the experience that Australia has to offer is a million miles away from more restricted horizons. If your taste is for nightlife, that's also comprehensively covered here, and (once again), the received opinion that Australia is a philistine country is thoroughly trounced by the detailed coverage of the highly impressive venues for the arts. Let’s face it, this is quite likely to be the only guide to Australia that you will ever need. --Barry Forshaw