Atlas of the World: Sixteenth Edition
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Book Summary Information
Editor: Oxford University PressEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-10-01
ISBN: 0195393287
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of Atlas of the World: Sixteenth Edition
Book Review: The World in Your Lap
Summary: 5 Stars
The World in Your Lap
By Bill Marsano. Maps, like banknotes, represent power on paper. They seem to be drawings but actually are texts (we may look at a picture but must read a map), heavy with meaning. Centuries ago, for example, when the same region was called "British North America" on some maps and "New France" on others, the meaning was clear: War. The French and Indian War (1754-1763), to be exact, which enlarged one empire (Britain's) and crippled the Bourbons.
Maps and atlases were important back then, and they still are today, although many of us now take them for granted if we take them at all: It's so easy, too easy, to resort to Google. Now Google does an excellent job up to a point, but it is short on context and the necessary electro-mechanical interface makes it weak on browsability. We get from Google the geographic version of a sound bite but we do not get the song. An atlas in your lap puts the world in your hands; it is food for the imaginative mind. As Joseph Conrad wrote in "Heart of Darkness": "Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration." This atlas is well-nigh perfect for that, apart from all of its more practical uses. If there is, as Emily Dickinson put it, "no frigate like a book to take us lands away," then there is no book like an atlas.
Any reader will find this atlas a lapful of cartographic bounty. There are regional maps and more than 100 maps of major world cities, many of them accompanied by detailed city-center maps. Maps of the solar system and the universe, maps of the latest countries (has your atlas got Kosovo as an independent country?), an excellent gazetteer, and an index (trillions of entries) that lists not only page number and map square but latitude and longitude. The paper is semi-matte, so glare is minimized, and all maps are fours-sided--that is, even when a map has to span two pages, it does not run into the gutter. And I haven't mentioned the photos from space.
But I want to stress that for all its value to adults, an atlas is a perfect food for young minds. The Oxford is very nearly the best--the 14k atlas--and its price is a bargain. (The 18k alternative is the "Times World Atlas," which costs more than four times as much. Buying the Oxford will leave you with money to spare when your young beneficiaries--or your yourself--want to delve into the "Oxford Book of Exploration." And even though the Times Atlas has the edge on size, the Oxford is more up to date: It's the only atlas I know of that is updated every year (that's why Kosovo appears here as a separate nation little more than a year after declaring independence). That's impressive. And there is, by the way, an excellent companion to this volume: The Oxford Atlas of Exploration. Lewis and Clark, Marco Polo and other familiar explorers are covered, but so are often-neglected Muslim, Egyptian, Chinese and Polynesian expeditions.--Bill Marsano is an award-winning travel writer and an addict of maps and atlases.
Summary of Atlas of the World: Sixteenth Edition
The only world atlas updated annually, guaranteeing that users will find the most current geographic information, Oxford's Atlas of the World is the most authoritative resource on the market. The Sixteenth Edition remains the finest international reference source of its kind available. Including new census information, dozens of city maps, gorgeous satellite images of Earth, and a geographical glossary, this atlas offers exceptional value at a reasonable price.Full of crisp, clear cartography of urban areas and virtually uninhabited landscapes around the globe, the Atlas has maps of 69 cities and nearly 100 different regions at carefully selected scales that give a striking view of the Earth's surface. Opening with world statistics and a colorful, instructive 48-page Introduction to World Geography--beautifully illustrated with tables and graphs--this acclaimed resource provides details on such topics as climate, the greenhouse effect, plate tectonics, agriculture, population and migration, and global conflicts. As in years past, this edition includes the latest geographic information. The popular satellite image section has been refreshed with stunning new images of different regions and urban areas. A completely updated Gazetteer of Nations provides an invaluable A-Z reference of concise country profiles, including statistics on economies, politics, and historical profiles.
Providing the finest global coverage available, the Atlas of the World is not only the best-selling volume of its size and price, but also the benchmark by which all other atlases are measured.
· Interior pages designed for heightened accuracy and ease of use
· Detailed city plans and country profiles make it the ultimate geographic reference
The Design
Oxford's Atlas of the World is a sturdy, high-quality, large-format book that is filled with crisp cartography, spectacular satellite imagery, and a wealth of information on changing conditions around the planet.
The Special Sections
Oxford's Atlas of the World provides an extensive intro to World Geography, up-to-date information on current events of geographical significance, captioned satellite images of the Earth, facts and figures on every sovereign state, and detailed coverage of 69 major urban areas.
The Quality of Information
Oxford's Atlas of the World is the only world atlas that is updated annually, guaranteeing that users will find the most current geographic information. It is the most authoritative resource on the market and offers the most current global information available today through a combination of statistics, maps, and photographs.
The History
Oxford University Press is known around the world for excellence, tradition, and innovation. The Atlas of the World is the best-selling volume of its size and price and the esteemed benchmark by which all other atlases are measured.
The Price
You receive a lavish, top-quality product at an excellent price that is comparable or lower than the main competitors.
The sixteenth edition of the Oxford Atlas of the World is chock-full of page-turning information, including new census data, dozens of city maps, updated country profiles, the latest statistics on climate change, gorgeous satellite images of Earth, and an instructive 48-page Introduction to World Geography--beautifully illustrated with tables and graphs. Providing the finest global coverage available, the Oxford Atlas of the World is not only the best-selling volume of its size and price, but also the benchmark by which all other atlases are measured.
Take a Look at the Stunning Illustrations in the Oxford Atlas of the World
(Click on images to enlarge)
 The Solar System was formed about 5 billion years ago, when a spinning cloud of gas, mostly hydrogen but seeded with other heavier elements, condensed enough to ignite a nuclear reaction and create a star. |  Sometimes called ?The Crescent City,? New Orleans is situated between the south bank of Lake Ponchartrain (the largest in this view) and the Mississippi River. |  This image shows glaciers flowing from the snow covered Himalayas on the northern Bhutan border. |
 This image shows just two of the more than 115 world city maps included in the Oxford Atlas of the World. |  This diagram shows the wars fought around the world since 1945. |
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