Atlas of North America [Hardcover]

H. J. de Blij (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 019516993X | ISBN-13: 978-0195169935 | Publication Date: March 24, 2005

At the heart of this new and comprehensive atlas of the three largest countries of North America is a unique thematic section covering physical, historic, economic, urban, social, and cultural topics ranging from environmental change to religious practice and from indigenous peoples to migration patterns. These newly drawn maps depict an increasingly multicultural and diverse realm in momentous economic and social transition. The thematic section is preceded by a series of spectacular satellite images and followed by detailed cartographic, statistical and narrative coverage of each of the realm's three nations. Regional maps of states and provinces and larger-scale maps of urban areas are accompanied by fascinating information and useful data. In combination, these components make the new Atlas of North America an unparalleled tool for research as well as reference, a teaching device as well as a study source, a travel guide and a book of learning. All of this is facilitated by an all-inclusive, particularized index. The modern and current Atlas of North America is an indispensable item in any professional or personal library.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 5 Up–This exhaustive, authoritative resource presents a dynamic view of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. Well organized, with an appropriate balance of written and visual material, the book opens with two pages of statistics that provide information on the population, capital, and area of states, provinces, and largest cities; records pertaining to temperatures, rainfall, and volcanic eruptions; and largest rivers and lakes, etc. Accessible text and accurate, colorful thematic maps with informative captions analyze the region detailing such aspects as climate, weather, population, immigration, and trade and telecommunications. Coverage of the individual states and provinces includes statistical data; lucid, relevant narratives; and color photographs. In addition, there are large-scale maps of the largest cities, regional maps, satellite images, and many charts and graphs. An extensive index with latitude and longitude notations, grid references, place names, and geographic features rounds out the package. Atlas of the World (Oxford, 2004, 12th ed.) will complement this priority purchase.–Hillary Jan Donitz-Goldstein, formerly at New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Oxford has joined Reader's Digest (Atlas of America, 1998) and National Geographic (Atlas of North America, 1985) in publishing a regional atlas. This new volume stretches the boundaries by including Mexico as well as Canada and the U.S. It is said to replace the second edition of Oxford's Regional Economic Atlas of the United States and Canada, published in 1975.

The first section of the source under review contains physical, cultural, economic, political, and geographic maps of the region. Interesting maps include one of women in state legislatures and another of land use by commodity--corn, hogs, soybeans, etc. Regional country maps are included as well as maps of the 50 states of the U.S., 13 provinces of Canada, and 32 states of Mexico. Most of the U.S. states have a full page (eleven inches by fifteen inches), but some, such as New Hampshire and Vermont, and Tennessee and Kentucky, are combined on a page. The majority of the excellent cartography is by Phillips, but MapQuest supplied a number of city maps, which are in separate sections under each country. There are current city-center maps of Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, New York, Washington, Montreal, and Mexico City. For each country, there is a section that provides a page of encyclopedic information for every state or province, including a box of demographic, economic, and geographic statistics--persons with a disability, home-ownership rate, minority-owned firms, persons per square mile, etc.--with comparisons to the country as a whole

Although many of the Mexican maps have more than one state on a page, the maps are more detailed than those in a world atlas. Much of the encyclopedic and statistical information will not be found in the usual reference sources. The Canadian provincial maps are large, with Nunavut, Southern British Columbia, and Southern Alberta each on a two-page spread. The inclusive index lists cities and physical features with a grid location and longitude and latitude.

Since the Internet still does not provide the clarity or depth of a good atlas, the Atlas of North America will be a useful source in school, academic, and public libraries. Christine Bulson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019516993X
• ISBN-13: 978-0195169935
• Product Dimensions: 14.8 x 11.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #428,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars somewhat a disappointment, July 3, 2011

By 

J. Janssen (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Atlas of North America (Hardcover)

Having previously purchased the Oxford Atlas of the World I was expecting a similar volume devoted to NA and it's largest singular component, the United States. What I got was a beautifully produced book authored by people who clearly view the United States as a foreign country. Don't get me wrong, the maps are exquisitely rendered and the statistical tables and graphs are accurate as far as I can tell, but it was curiously lacking in certain key components and made some odd choices of emphasis. As an example, the atlas is devoid of the typical "mileage between cities" chart, a useful addendum commonly included with atlases. Additionally, at least in the case of California, the authors made some odd choices that I can only assume are mistakes. For example, in the "state bio" section there is a brief summary of each state and a smaller bio of the states' capital accompanied with a small map and one or two pictures. In California's case the picture next to Sacramento is that of San Diego's downtown waterfront.

The atlas completely short shrifts the U.S. capital. There is only one index reference to Washington D.C. and that's a single page map showing Maryland, Delaware and The District of Columbia lumped together. In the "state/capital bio" section they combine Washington with Maryland and don't provide any more information on D.C. than they do on Annapolis. Finally, there is a city street map section later in the book where the nation's capital shares space on one page with Tampa and St. Petersburg. To compare Washington D.C. with all the nation's memorials, the Smithsonian complex, the houses of Congress, the White House and the nearby Civil War battlefields with Florida's medium size twin cities doesn't show much respect nor does it provide any differentiation between a national capital and ordinary cities; especially when you consider that all of the Canadian provincial capitals and Mexico City received significantly more coverage.

I rated this at 4 stars and briefly considered 3. It is a beautiful book, and every atlas does have flaws of one type of another, but I can't get past the belief that this was badly edited either by design or neglect.

9/6/11

Amazon's pricing is all over the map on this and they're now trying to sell it for $125 at the time of this writing... ridiculous. I paid less than $40 within the past year. Don't reward this seller for bad behavior.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reference Atlas of North America, July 12, 2008

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PMO "Data shark" (OK) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Atlas of North America (Hardcover)

Such books are readily found in libraries; however, if you want a handy reference book on knowledge of North America at your desk, this is highly recommended. The first section of the book contains many charts and tabulations for demographics, surface features, hydrographics, and geospatial data. The remaining bulk of the book consists of state maps.