Customer Reviews

The Book of Rule: How the World is Governed

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This large and attractive book is a quick and exciting look at the nations of the world and their governments. There is an entry for every nation on the globe, ranging from twelve pages for the United States, and ten pages each for Japan and the United Kingdom, through to one page for such countries as Indonesia and Albania. The entry for each country has a map of the country, flag, symbol, table of statistics, economic information, a short history, and a chart of "How the Government Works."

Now, a trifling complaint I have against this book is its organization. The countries are organized first by system of rule (monarchial, theocratic, military, parliamentary democratic, multiparty democratic, presidential democratic, presidential regimes, non-party democracies, single party rule, and transitional rule) and then by population size. As you might expect, if you want to read about a specific country you will need to use the index.

My bigger complaint is that while this book is broad in its reach, it is very shallow in its grasp. I mean one page for Indonesia, the fourth most populous nation on Earth?!? Also, since so little information can be given to the reader, I would not consider this book to be anything other than an introduction to the nations of the world.

So, am I saying that this is a lousy book? Oh no, quite the contrary. This is a fascinating book, and a very good introduction to the nations of the world and their governments, one that I would highly recommend for younger readers. It has a great deal of information, which is presented in a colorful and very interesting manner.

I've always been very interested in politics, especially global politics and the study of different systems of governance. For someone like me, this book truly is a must-own. It's literally filled with information, yet unlike so many other world encyclopedias and reference guides this book is sorely about politics. As mentioned, every country on earth is profiled using a standard template along with a very clear flow chart diagram showing that country's system of government and how it works. The "important" countries, (Britain, Japan, US, Canada, Italy, China, Iran, Iraq, India, Russia and a few others) receive a more in-depth profile with several pages devoted to profiling their three branches of government in much greater detail. The information is all very contemporary. I'm writing this review in the summer of 2004, and I can say I was very impressed with how up-to-date this book is. The editors must have been adding new information right to the very last minute, because very few facts are noticeably outdated. It discusses the 2003 Iraq war and post-Saddam Iraq, as well as ongoing events in Afghanistan, Liberia, and other global hotspots. The info on some "current" heads of state is now dated, but such cases are the exception.

Another plus is the book's design. This is truly a beautiful volume. The pages are big and glossy and there are tons of nice full color photos, including several double-page photo spreads of interesting cultural scenes. The photos are interesting and informative too, and not just fluff. For example, I had never seen a photo of a German court in action before I bought this book. I had no idea their judges wore red robes and hats. This is a book that uses its medium to the full extent.

My only complaint with this book would be what some of the other reviewers have mentioned- namely, that it does not profile the smaller or less "famous" countries in a great enough depth. Though the information given for all countries is quite thorough, I found that in some cases the country profiles focused too much on the nation's history, and not enough on its current government.

Regardless, the small faults are not enough to make me give this book anything less than a perfect score.

This like "Geography of the World" this is an excellent resource. It is indexed well and complete. Countries are categorized by government type rather than location therefore it is a very complete look at the governments of the world.

I recommend this for home reference, or for teachers and students. I use it while teaching social studies.

This is an amazing source of facts and information on "how the world is governed". I haven't seen anything like it before. I was impressed with the details - from the history of the origins of rule to explaining international stock markets, government spending ratios, memberships in world organizations, international law practices or the fundamental differences within the styles of communism. Globalization, politics, history, social commentary on each country - it's all here. The maps, timelines, charts and diagrams of how the government works make this book an exciting read. Though I'm not sure why the nations in each system of rule are ordered by population rather than by name or why some countries received significantly more space than others, overall the book gets my thumbs up. Definitely a fantastic reference book and an interesting read!

Global politics is a topic typically covered in a dry scholarly tome - certain not one with the visual color and packed-in illustrative displays of The Book Of Rule: How The World Is Governed. It's this emphasize on contemporary visuals, from sidebars of information and maps to color photos which lends to the appeal of The Book Of Rule from its bright cover to its inviting pages packed with facts about global networks of power, from monarchies and republics to military regimes. An exceptional guide evolves.

I just picked up this book and haven't had a full chance to look at all of the intricacies, but it appears to be very thorough and it is certainly very visually appealing.

The book describes the types of governments in the world in six categories (Transitional, Single Party, Democratic, Military, Theocratic, and Monarchal). It includes profiles on every country in the world and devotes more pages to some than others. As a teacher, I appreciate the concise descriptions of American and other major world governments.

My students will be able to easily determine major issues in each country as well as gain a historical context for the rule that exists today. This is a goldmine for world history research - a great starting point to help students know where to go next when researching a particular country or government.

My only question before using it in the classroom is whether I'll let students use it freely :) It looks so nice, I'd hate to have pages ripped.

Teachers, students and anyone interested in learning more about how the world works will benefit from this book. Thousands of facts, statistics and images make a complex topic interesting, almost addictive. This book is a great find.

Just like most books from DK Publishing, this book is lavishly illustrated, making it so much more interesting to read. Whereas why the Maldives is classified as a country "in transition" (1 of 9 such classified countries in this book, and the very last country described in the entire volume) is not clear and is debatable; there is absolutely no doubt that the editors need to pay extra attention in checking some basic world facts. Libya was mentioned by President Bush as one of the "axis of evil" countries? The Philippines were ruled, not once, but twice (apparently as recent as 1998), by communists? And the list of factual errors goes on and on. I would have rated this book way higher, but I was disappointed by such flaws.

This is good in that it has a lot of info for every country. However there are some negative points.

This is choc full of errors and misstatements. There are also political overtones slightly hidden that don't fit with a reference work. Things such as stating President George W. Bush was "appointed" not elected. This is clearly a shot along the idea that Bush was appointed by the Supreme Court or that he stole the election. It also gives skewed views on political issues facing nations.

It's idea of media "censorship" is also skewed. When a country forbids political parties and groups to operate, just based on their views, like it or not, it is censorship. Same when the state says what kinds of political ads are acceptable at a certain time. Certain things cannot be said at certain times, that's censorship, support or oppose it, maybe it could be argued necessary; the people are not intelligent enough to receive certain information....

The sections are broken down by government type. Each section begins with a intro sheet with pictures of various leaders who pioneered that form of government...they are labeled at the bottom and there are numerous inaccuracies.

I love the idea of this book, it's organization, and the wealth of information it presents. However, every page is chock full. There is next to no white space. A sizable part of every page is presented in what seems to be 2- or maybe even 1-point type. I've tried it without my glasses, with my glasses, and even with a magnifying glass. It's too much trouble. If I and my eyes were 30 or 40 years younger, I'd get a whole lot more out of it.