Customer Reviews

Great World Atlas

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

 

 

Very unfortunately, this beautiful Atlas has been cruelly ruined by non-standard, 100% unacceptable binding (see my earlier review for 2003 edition).

Thank you P.A. Connors!!

Thank you for reporting on the continuing bindery problem. I was tempted to buy the new 2008 edition and hope for the best. I am so glad to get your alert so I don't have to ship the Atlas back, as I am certain I would (costing me hefty shipping postage!).

I guess whoever I contacted a couple of years ago about the VERY SERIOUS bindery problems was not in a position to effect the changes required by ANY serious Atlas publisher.

One has to assume DK is not serious about publishing high quality Atlases.

What a shame.

.................... 2006 Review follows:


I have emailed the publisher about this Atlas. They say they will correct the defects in the next edition.

In short, "maplover" is exactly right - the "crack" is a fatal flaw. There are many beautiful 2-page spreads that have almost 2 full inches in the middle pressed into the binding. This Atlas is not correctly bound. ANY serious large atlas will be bound so as to lay flat, revealing 100% of mapping detail. I own half a dozen such large atlses. This DK book is the only one that does not lay open flat. It was ruined by improper binding!

The binding is the same as used for mass market paperbacks, which, as we all know, we have to struggle to pry open sometimes. HOWEVER -- unlike a paperback, the DK Atlas is solidly glued to a 1/8th inch thick backing board that cannot be loosened up to allow the binding to even come close to lying open as flat as a paperback can be pried open.

Such binding has never been used for atlases before. What was DK thinking? Somebody really needs to be demoted or fired for this.

DK responded to emails and says they will correct this. I pray so. The Atlas is so beautiful but for this flaw.

BUT ... there is also the question of completeness and reliability. I found at least a few critical placenames absent. These were places of significance. To omit them on any serious map would be to reveal profound incompetence. It's as though, as I told DK, the maps were prepared or edited by person(s) ignorant of the geographical areas they were responsible for. This is unacceptable and quite unbelievable.

I returned my copy for a refund.

I conveyed my criticisms to DK and got positive responses. They are a fabulous publishing company. Hopefully, they will correct the problems.

I also conveyed to DK my concern that their website portrays this particular Atlas incorrecly. They have samples of 2-page spreads with NO tight bindery crack. Thus, judging from their web pages, one would be woefully misled about the actual product.

They accepted this observation as well. I don't know if they fixed the web page; haven't checked.

The visible parts of this atlas are truly excellent. Unfortunately, the latest edition (Sep 2008) of this atlas has still not fixed the problems with the binding. A strip down the center of every two-page map is completely invisible, so that town-names on each side of this gap may be incomplete. To give you a sampling of the problems this causes: in the political map of the world, half of Britain is missing, and Spain has no eastern coast; in the map of Northern European Russia, the large lettering "R U S S I A N" seems like "R U S SI A N"; and in the map of California, San Francisco is mostly dipping down into the gap, and has no visible Pacific coast.

This atlas is a major disappointment. I received it as a gift and was very excited to start avidly pouring over the satelite images and maps. I have enjoyed other books by this publisher. Not only is this atlas unwieldy (many of the maps require that this huge book be turned sideways to properly view) but the crack down the center swallows up big chunks of the image, rendering the cartography all but useless. It seems that with a little advance planning and forethought the maps could have been oriented in such a way so that the information was legible. I guess I will attach legs and use it as a 'book coffee table.'

this is a great atlas, a magnificent reference
the ultimate geographical reference for today

If you're looking for an obscure town in Zaire, there's better atlases out there (National Geographic, etc.).

But if you want to learn about the country, the landscape, the geology, and the geography, this is the one to get. It is incredibly information dense. The maps are brilliant and gorgeous. It's a blast to page through and read.

I have an older version, so I don't have the binding problem that some people report of this one. Too bad, since the cartography and design is so good, that it should be printed well too.

i got it from my partner for christmas, and i'll tell you he paid $199 from dymocks. it is really worth getting if you like atlas, maps or encylopdias