Customer Reviews

The Penguin State of the World Atlas: Eighth Edition

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Dan Smith's State of the World Atlas provides visually arresting representations of statistics about the political and social state of the world. You learn about wealth and poverty, civil rights, environmental depredation, birth and death rates, the spread of obesity, smoking, varying degrees of freedom, militarization, and much else. In all cases the information is projected onto the world map. In many cases, the information ingeniously *becomes* the map. But just because everything in this book is centered on maps, it is dismaying that Penguin skimped on production. This book should have been printed as a hardcover with sewn binding so that it can lie open flat, revealing the two-page map spreads in all their glory. As it is, either key sections of the maps are lost in the gutter, or you need to break the glued spine, which, I suspect, will lead the book to fall apart fairly quickly. Too bad.

I bought the original book back in 80's and was enraptured with all of the information. As a trivia junkie I couldn't get enough and was pleasantly surprised to see that the author has continued with the series for several editions. Now the 8th edition is here for me to compare with my extremely worn 1st edition. And its funny how somethings have changed and others remain the same. If your a trivia nut like me or need some great maps for the political science report this book provides.

Dan Smith's State of the World Atlas has been an excellent reference for a wide variety of social, economic and environmental issues. Great for anyone who want a quick review of such issues with a geographical context. Colorful maps and graphics make this a more approachable tool. Highly recommended!

I got this to consider using in a class I teach to freshmen. It's a really good way to visualize data on a range of topics. Can be used as an assigned book or you can project images on a screen.

As soon as you're a college freshman, some wise soul is going to tell you that you can't believe the numbers. Statistics, they will assure you, can be manipulated to tell you anything you want to hear.

Do not let that bit of wisdom sway you from picking up this book. These are real numbers and percentages, not comparisons of when things moved up or down or in relation to something else. What is the range of percentage of people in the US who are overweight? (We're in the 70% or more range.) What is Denmark's official development assistance per capita? ($600- and in case you're wondering, the United States' is $93.) And how many people are internally displaced in Iraq? (1.8 million)

But these aren't just numbers- they're used to paint a picture of a world that is marked by an inbalance in privilege and quality of life, both across the planet and within national borders. Yes, the authors point out in the introduction that in total the worldwide standard of living has probably improved, but for many people only marginally so. The figures here bear that out. Might there be other numbers that tell a different story? Maybe, but it's hard to imagine what could make the numbers on refugees or extreme weather events sound better.

It would have been nice to have more information on infant and maternal mortality, but those are probably in their Women's Atlas. Also, be warned that there are statistics on sex trafficking and tourism, which some parents might not want their younger children to know about.

An excellent reference.

Fast delivery, used book in great condition. A lot cheaper than buying books from the university bookstore