DK World Atlas: Second Edition [Hardcover]

DK Publishing (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0789459620 | ISBN-13: 978-0789459626 | Edition: 2nd

Unrivaled in its clarity, accuracy, and comprehensiveness, the Dorling Kindersley World Atlas is the ultimate atlas for homes, businesses, schools, and libraries.

The Dorling Kindersley World Atlas takes you on an unparalleled journey around the globe. More than 450 maps created especially for this book show you exactly what the world really looks like today. The Second Edition of this bestselling atlas includes complete revision and updating of all the maps and a new geographical comparisons section Authoritative and easy to use, the Dorling Kindersley World Atlas opens with twelve magnificent double-page spreads that give a global overview of the physical and human world as it is today. Each continent is then surveyed in detail, with maps describing the continent's physical landscape, political and cultural makeup, and the distribution of resources and economic activity. Maps with Unmatched Detail: At the heart of the atlas are the regional pages, which combine high-quality mapping with photography, diagrams and landscape models - all fully explained in detailed text and captions - to provide an encyclopedic guide to the world in which we live. Major areas of the world are shown in unprecedented detail on eight fold-out maps. Computer-generated models of the landscape give an enhanced view of the physical structure of each region. At-a-glance maps spotlight interesting aspects of the area covered, such as regional divisions, key economic activities, land use, and agriculture. The stunning color photographs on each spread convey the essence of landscape and nature of each region. Comprehensive Index-Gazetteer: All 80,000 geographical names on the maps are listed in the Index-Gazetteer, complete with page and grid reference. Each place name and geographical feature is defined and located with a brief description, easy-to-read symbols, and alternative names and spellings. Essential information on all the world's countries is provided in the Countries Gazetteer, while the glossary provides explanations and definitions of the technical geographical terms that are used in the atlas.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Even though the world is rapidly changing borders and political alliances, the Dorling Kindersley World Atlas has kept up admirably. Modified since its original publication in 1997, the atlas documents the physical terrain, societal and economic shifts, and political moods and boundaries of the entire world (really, the entire world, from vast Asia to tiny Micronesia).

The Dorling Kindersley World Atlas is large, heavy, and fascinating. It begins with a section on "The World Today," which encompasses the solar system, the structure of the Earth, the oceans, the global climate, and international boundaries and disputes. Then it focuses on the continents, each broken down by country and/or region. Finally, the atlas concludes with an impressive index-gazetteer that tracks all 80,000 geographical names mentioned in the book and includes a breakdown of the pertinent information (population, date of independence, industry, languages, ethnic mix, etc.) of every country. There are so many interesting bits of information, it would be easy to get lost in Africa or New Zealand for hours.

The computer-generated maps, models, and illustrations are incredibly realistic and brilliantly colored. Interspersed with photos illustrating cities, villages, and natural wonders, there are population grids and industry markers. As much as possible, land masses are shown curved, giving a more accurate perspective of the true tilt of the Earth. Perusing the Dorling Kindersley World Atlas is absorbing and entertaining--you'll learn more about the Arabian Peninsula or the Solomon Islands than you ever thought you could. A wonderful educational tool and conversation starter for families. --Dana Van Nest

From School Library Journal

One lesson from the DK World Atlas is that the further an atlas goes beyond the basics of maps and indexes, the less likely it is to be a useful reference atlas. Another lesson is to maintain a healthy skepticism toward publishers' claims about their products. The DK describes itself as "a new standard in cartographic excellence." It is tricked out with the publisher's usual panoply of photos, diagrams, fact boxes, charts, graphs, and bits of text that presume to sum up an entire region's culture and history. Not only do these accoutrements clutter up the map pages, they are by turns oversimplified, sloppily written or edited, inaccurate, and dated. And while the country borders are largely up to date, the index is not. Overall, this work is superficial. It combines an attempt to provide encyclopedic geographic information with a lack of attention to detail. Given its many limitations and defects, this atlas is unsuitable for any library use.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 372 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT; 2nd edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789459620
• ISBN-13: 978-0789459626
• Product Dimensions: 14.6 x 10.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #501,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good especially for educational purposes., December 28, 2000

By 

Jan-Willem van Aalst - See all my reviews

This review is from: DK World Atlas: Second Edition (Hardcover)

The second edition of the DK World Atlas has been devised from digital mapping entirely, and DK have done a very good job. For each area mapped, a pile of additional information about that area is given; thus, the maps and thematic sections are intertwined in this atlas, even though there is still a separate thematic section. The 202 plates give a well-balanced coverage of the world (in which Europe is not over treated for a change) with special attention to densely populated areas (up to a scale of 1:1 million). Maps are not squarely cut as usual, but are cropped according to some administrative boundary. The plates employ a very specific color scheme which is very pleasing to the eye. The relief shading, however, is at some places so dark that legibility severely suffers from it. Typefaces and font sizes have been chosen well. The maps are also very accurate, though not at all times highly detailed. The index size is 80,000 which is in general less than other atlases of this size. This is partly due to the fact that much more than just maps are offered in this atlas, which makes it an attractive choice to those who want a guide to the world, not just a collection of maps.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Atlas by a Pretty Margin!, March 24, 2002

By 

S. Smith - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: DK World Atlas: Second Edition (Hardcover)

Dorling Kindersley have redefined what an atlas is, by shifting the emphasis from rather technical cartography (as other atlases have) - to providing a lively range of written explanations, annotated 3-D diagrams, colour photographs, and graphical semi-3D maps, for each region. Their rethinking of the priorities does bring smaller, less detailed maps - but the detail is still more than ample, provided you don't need to know where every last little hamlet and stream is. After buying this atlas, you'll never go back to the old-style ones: it's like upgrading from DOS to Windows.

My credentials: I set out on a quest to find a book like this, and I didn't know whether such a book existed. It was to have maps, photographs, and a detailed realistic write-up, for every country and region in the world. I spent several afternoons scouring the larger bookshops, picking up perhaps hundreds of atlases, maps and travel guides. Then I found this :) And I had lots of money left over.

Content: The entire book, I must say, is very nicely presented, with flowing page layouts and colour everywhere. It is divided into 3 main parts:
1. World overviews.
2. The continents & regional maps.
3. The index.

1. A series of world overviews, as found in most other atlases - the planets, politics, wars, etc. etc, but better. They are graphical and colourful, with many little diagrams & photos. Everything is explained neatly and in plain english.

2. The maps themselves are organised first by the continents, then by regions (a region is typically one country, or a group of countries); some regions are given extra treatment for the more populous areas.

The bias is noticeably western-centric, with more space devoted to Western Europe, the USA, Japan, etc: for example, Europe gets 46 pages, but Africa only gets 18! I would happily pay more money for a more complete & unbiased coverage, and this is my first main gripe (of 2) against this otherwise wonderful book.

* Each continent has a 6+ page introduction with maps & photographs covering: physical geography, climate, history, population, transport, language, industry, natural resources, etc (similar to the world overviews).

* Every regional page offers a mixture of maps, diagrams, photos and text, all in technicolour. Almost all regional pages contain:

- a written introduction, with a small map showing where you are in the world.

- the main map. These are colourful, dramatic, easier to understand than traditional flat-as-a-pancake maps, and come in irregular shapes according to the regional/country boundaries. Every map also has its own scale and key, so there is no need to rummage around for those. But the scales vary considerably and wierdly, like 1:7,750,000 on one page, and 1:7,000,000 on the next, and obviously the maps have been scaled to whatever fits nicely on the page, with no concern for standardising them. This makes it difficult to compare 2 different maps, or to develop a natural sensibility for reading them. (This is my 2nd gripe).

- about 6 mini-photographs of interesting landscapes or cultural features - with explanations.

- a small physical-geography map, showing the main mountain ranges, rivers, and areas to note (which are annotated with fascinating little descriptions, often with photographs).

- a small land-use map.

- a small map of transport routes and industry.

- sometimes another small diagram or two to explain things.

* It also contains statistics & flags for every country.

* My UK edition also includes a 24-page atlas-within-an-atlas (with its own index) for the british isles.

3. The index covers all of place-names & natural features found on the maps, and is also very nicely done, telling you the page, grid ref, country, & lat/long for each entry.

* Summary. Much thought and intelligence has gone into this book. It gets 5 stars for being *easily* the best atlas I could find on my little quest, despite my 2 gripes.

Even people who wouldn't normally bother buying an atlas, should consider buying this: it sits well near the television, for a quick glance whenever there is a global news story, or a documentary about some remote place.

It is interesting that Dorling Kindersley should be the people to make this leap forward, having always primarily made books for children, while the other publishers continue to slave away at their overly-detailed technical maps!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best of the lot!, July 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: DK World Atlas (1st ed) (Hardcover)

DK World Atlas won out in my review over Oxford and Hammond because of overall appearance and ease of use; color topography; entire country shown together and not split; beautiful and useful fold outs; and the number of actual maps. Compare Alaska in Oxford with a tiny inset to DK with a full page. Or compare Italy in Hammond on multi-pages to DK where it is shown all together on two page spread. Also, I like the side bar information right on the page with the map. Only one negative and that is the print in the index is rather small and harder to read. Still a best buy at lowest price of the three.