This is my newest and most up to date edition of Cruising the Baltic Sea. The book is very concise and provides those cruising the Baltic Sea with just the right amount of geographic, historic and socio-political information to enable everyone to fully appreciate the countries and ports you are visiting. I have provided information regarding the best places to visit, dine and shop that are within easy reach of where your ship will dock. I have also included all of the ports located around the Gulf of Bothnia since several cruise lines are now incorporating this part of the Baltic Sea into some of their itineraries. As a retired professor of geography and a scholar of northern European cultures and languages, and also as one who has cruised around the Baltic Sea 51 times in the past ten years, I believe you will find my insights far more enriching than what you can get from the large mass-market tour books on the region. I trust you will find this book a useful tool in planning your cruise and then traveling around the Baltic Sea. It is a great region to visit. Bon Voyage!