The Times

A worthy update that's full of information beyond the core maps that could keep you occupied for hours, although I have found some maps being a little too detailed on place names that the shape of counties becomes a little lost.
There may be a question as to why on needs a physical map when Google Maps and Google Earth combined can show you almost anywhere in unprecedented detail, but as with many books, it's the overall picture you're all but forced to look at and appreciate and the ability show more to effortlessly browse that demonstrate conclusively that good atlases retain their essential place in any home. show less

The "fourth leader" in the Times, as the introduction notes, was meant as something of a change of pace from the editorials otherwise presented. They were intended to go off on quiet, uncontroversial tangents. This collection here is a selection of "fourth leaders" from the war period. The overhang of the war is ever-present, and you do get a sense that some of these miniature essays are studied efforts in trying to keep a stiff upper lip. The effort tends to show, and reduces the appeal show more somewhat. While none of them are bad, as such, none of them are particularly memorable. Pretty much limited to those with an interest in World War II, or Penguin completists. show less

Along with a small encyclopaedia and a dictionary, this boxed set is a must for every executive's desk, and for your home office desk too. Get out of the habit of searching online for the answer to every little question that comes to your mind in a day and look it up in one of these books! Remember - each simple search uses a small amount of energy and each search produces around 0.2 grams of CO₂.

One warning, though. This boxed set may well divert you for the atlas contains facts and show more figures for all countries, states and territories, and features on the continents and oceans, the climate, the environment, population and cities, telecommunications - we live in an endlessly fascinating world that there's always something new to learn and enjoy. Then follows 117 pages of maps, including two pages of the British Isles, one page for Scotland and one for Ireland, and two pages for England and Wales (though I would have liked a map showing the counties of our island nations) and five pages of maps of the oceans.

At end end of the atlas, there is a section on world statistics (those alive in 2050 will be able to check the accuracy of the projected total population for that year, the data being from 2003. The world population was estimated to be 6.3bn in 2003 and forecast to be 9.076bn by 2050; the UK population was 58.789m in 2003 and forecast to be 67.143m by 2050 (well, at the time of writing this estimated population of the UK is 66m and the world 8.3bn - a search online for population projections for 2050 reveals a forecast of 78m for the UK and 9.7bn or 9.8bn for the world!).

This section is followed by a map of World Time Zones, Geographical Tables (highest mountains, longest rivers, largest lakes and deepest lakes, largest drainage basins, statistics about the three largest oceans, largest islands (Great Britain is eighth), lowest points on land, highest waterfalls, largest countries by population and by area, largest cities (London did not feature in the top 20) and busiest airports (in 2004 - London (LHR) was third). The final table trumps the lot - Earth's Dimensions.

There are three final pages, before the 62-page index which includes all names shown on the 117 pages of maps. These are two pages of useful facts, information and web links and one page of Distance and Conversion Charts (air distances in Kilometres and miles for 27 cities - all are the shortest distance, the Great Circle routes.

The second book is the Compact History of the World and it's much the same size as the atlas. It's beautifully produced, the maps are clear and the essays accompanying each two-page cross-referenced chapter are excellent, as are the illustrations. The book is divided into four main parts - The Ancient World (Human Origins through to the collapse of the Ancient World and its transformation AD 300-600), The World Fragmented (to 1500), The Rise of the West (1480 to early 20th Century) and The Modern World (the century from c.1911). This is not just a reference book, for the 82 two-page chapters are a readable history of the world.

Well done The Times - and thank you! show less

The only world atlas available showing the relatively small place where I grew up. Beautiful book. However, do you still need it with Google Maps around?