The Africa Book is the latest in a series of large hardback books from Lonely Planet that include The Cities Book, The Travel Book and The Asia Book.

Following the same sequence as The Asia Book, each country has its own page of textual information with all kinds of facts and figures about the destination including landscape, history, people and cuisine.

This detailed rundown of a fascinating, vast continent is accompanied by superb images from each country. There's hundreds of photographs in the 265-page book that illustrate the diverse wildlife, people, places and culture from five regions and fifty-four countries.

In addition to country pages, there's sections on African cultures and traditions, music, wildlife and activities.

Lonely Planet Travel Editor Tom Hall said: “The launch of the The Africa Book coincides with the 30th anniversary of Lonely Planet’s first guide to the continent.

"Africa is a place that has always been close to the hearts of adventurous and independent travellers so it was a natural step for us to bring out a pictorial dedicated to this amazing region.”

The Africa Book is published on September 30, priced £25 (ISBN: 9781741046021), and will be available at the Lonely Planet online shop

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