Tony Wheeler's dark lands

Each chapter is a travel essay on a country considered a ‘dark land' based on being troubled or failed.
Colombia, Congo DR, Haiti, Israel/Palestine, Nauru, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea & Zimbabwe made the list for this book - his follow up to Bad Lands.
It isn't great story telling, there is a lot of seeing the things that need to be seen (a little like Lonely Planet guidebook following in general I guess), but there is good summary information on the history of the places he visits, which is pretty well explained without taking too much space in the book.
The comparison to fairy tales for each country didn't really work for me, it felt a bit contrived, trying to make it fit, but that was only a sentence for each chapter, so no big deal.
Overall, still an interesting read.