HE adage "when in Rome" has always been good advice for foreign travelers. But finding out what, exactly, the Romans do - let alone how to emulate them without making a fool of yourself - is not always easy. Lately, though, a growing number of travel guides on mores and mentalities in foreign lands have been offering help for American tourists who want to blend in with the local culture.

The guides are being published at a time when American overseas travel is on the rise even as anti-American sentiment simmers in the world. Many travelers are making efforts to put a better foot forward when walking on foreign soil.

"The world has changed since Sept. 11, and Americans are confronted with a great, unexpected and unknown tide of prejudice against them," said Geoffrey Chesler, the editor of a series of 168-page travel books called "Culture Smart!" (Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company, $9.95 each). It offers quick guides to customs and etiquette to two dozen countries, with more titles on the way.

The individual authors, in each case, were chosen because they were either natives of the country or had lived there a long time and had business backgrounds there. Along with the "Do's and Taboos" series, similar books by Roger E. Axtell, these guides can help Americans become more culturally savvy travelers.

"Anti-Americanism comes from different points of the compass," Mr. Chesler said. "There's visceral hostility from the traditional left, you have Third World rage at what is perceived to be an imperial oppressor, and you have cultural snobbery on the part of the Europeans." The books address how to vacation, rather than merely where. "It is simply no longer possible to be a naïve or innocent traveler," Mr. Chesler said. "There is now a need not to offend."

When reading any of these guides, it is probably good to remember that etiquette rules are not one-size-fits-all; no matter which culture is being discussed, trying to apply one rule to all situations may end up in stereotyping, rather than preventing social slips.

Traditional travel guidebooks usually offer a perfunctory page or two, at best, on how to comport yourself in a particular country before delving into where to go and what to see. They tell you where to eat, but not how to eat. Little, if anything, is said about body language or the historical, political and religious roots of local etiquette. Less still is said about how your hosts will interpret you.

In the "Culture Smart!" series, the emphasis is reversed. It "will not tell you what time a train departs, but it will help you understand the behavior of the people on it," as Nicki Grihault, author of "Culture Smart! India," describes the book in the introduction.

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