A BOOK with the subtitle "A journey through every country in the world" is guaranteed to get any armchair traveller sitting up to take notice. Especially when it is published by Lonely Planet.

OK, so maybe Lonely Planet has committed a number of crimes against humanity. Such as turning some of the most remote and exotic corners of the earth into highways for stampeding backpackers, all rushing to experience the same exotic sights and sounds.

But what traveller can claim never to have benefited from having a well-thumbed Lonely Planet guide in their rucksack? Say what you like about these books, they do open up parts of the world which would otherwise be very difficult to reach. And they are blessed with great photography.

So a bumper book from Lonely Planet which boasts a sumptuous two-page spread on every country in the world sounds like a wonderful idea. Flip these pages and you really can journey the world from the safety of your armchair.

Why, then, did it leave me feeling a little disappointed? Because while the photographs are great, the text is meagre to the point of insubstantiality. And the maps are frustrating. They show each country in isolation, with no sense of where it fits into the rest of the world.

For £40, I expected more. Which isn't to say I won't spend hours with my nose buried in its pages, wishing I was there.

Updated: 09:29 Wednesday, November 10, 2004