This series of books was a student-led initiative from Harvard University in the days before the internet was widely available. As such, and prior to the world domination of Lonely Planet, it was a great achievement. Listings were very much that - paragraphs with lists of places of interest, where to stay and eat and prices. It also had good planning information including how to enter the East and what visa requirements there were. Some amusing mistakes (corrected in later reprints, unfortunately) included the Leipzig church description "Mozart and Mendelssohn also performed in this church, and Richard Wagner (of Hart to Hart fame) was confirmed here." Now lost to time and mildew. Robert Wagner, however, did star in Colditz, just down the road.