Preparing for a visit to a foreign country can be overwhelming, with no shortage of things to figure out before you go. Where should you eat? Where should you stay? What do you tip? Even harder to gather than this service information, however, is a sense of cultural understanding. With this in mind, language learning app Babbel asked some foreign ambassadors to the U.S. (and we asked a few more) to pick the book they believe first-time visitors to their country should read before they arrive. Their answers may surprise you.

Note: "H.E." stands for His or Her Excellency, the official title for ambassadors to the U.S.

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