XPath converter helper

XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
xmlDoc.Load(filename);
XPathNavigator nav = xmlDoc.CreateNavigator();
XPathNavigator navRoot = nav.SelectSingleNode(ElemContext);
string EnvName = GetXMLObject<string>(navRoot, "@" + ElemEnvironmentName);

        private T GetXMLObject<T>(XPathNavigator navRoot, string name)
        {
            if (navRoot.SelectSingleNode(name) == null)
            {
                throw new NotImplementedException(string.Format("The specified property [{0}] does not exist in the xml node.  Please re-check your xml.", name));
            }

            object item = navRoot.SelectSingleNode(name).Value;

            if (typeof(T).Equals(typeof(string)))
            {
                return (T)item;
            }

            if (typeof(T).Equals(typeof(int)))
            {
                item = Convert.ToInt32(item);
                return (T)item;
            }

            if (typeof(T).Equals(typeof(IntPtr)))
            {
                // The Convert must be big enough to convert a pointer from a x64 system.
                item = new IntPtr(Convert.ToInt64(item));
                return (T)item;
            }

            if (typeof(T).Equals(typeof(double)))
            {
                item = Convert.ToDouble(item);
                return (T)item;
            }

            if (typeof(T).Equals(typeof(DateTime)))
            {
                item = DateTime.Parse((string)item, null);
                return (T)item;
            }

            if (typeof(T).Equals(typeof(bool)))
            {
                item = Convert.ToBoolean(Convert.ToInt32(item));
                return (T)item;
            }

            if (typeof(T).Equals(typeof(Guid)))
            {
                item = new Guid((string)item);
                return (T)item;
            }

            if (typeof(T).BaseType.Equals(typeof(Enum)))
            {
                item = Enum.Parse(typeof(T), (string)item);
                return (T)item;
            }

            if (typeof(T).Equals(typeof(CultureInfo)))
            {
                item = CultureInfo.GetCultureInfoByIetfLanguageTag((string)item);
                return (T)item;
            }

            if (typeof(T).Equals(typeof(Rect)))
            {
                item = new RectConverter().ConvertFromString((string)item);
                return (T)item;
            }

            throw new NotImplementedException(string.Format("The datatype [{0}] has not been catered for.", typeof(T).Name));
        }