Customer Reviews

Time: Almanac 2003

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Each year I cannot wait for the Time Almanac to come out. As an information 'junkie' the Time Almanac satifies my needs like no other almanac. I am always amazed that they are able to get the World Series box scores and results out, let alone the outcomes of the November elections, and still get the book published by Thanksgiving.

The section on World Statistics and Countries is remarkably comprehensive and up-to-date. I have not seen its equal. The statistical listings are supplemented by helpful and interesting narrative articles.

As an educator, I find that the Time Almanac is also very accessible to middle school and high school students. My most common gift to graduates has been the Time Almanac.

The Time Almanac is the best yearly statistical reference book I have found. The 2003 edition will not disappoint you.

I recently ordered "Time Almanac 2003: With Information Please" and -being a stickler for information-replete, non-fiction tomes (e.g., dictionary, almanac, encyclopedia, etc.) this is as good as any Almanac I've ever come across. The table of contents are very organized, everything is very easy to find and there are over 1 million facts and more than one thousand pages. This is the first time I made a switch from World Almanac to Time Almanac. In my opinion this Time is as good as any World Almanac I've ever come across.

There is a major flaw, however. In the middle of the book there is a section of pages that contains photos, world maps, and countries' flags. These pages weren't binded to the book the way that the rest of the book was: They're attached in the same "bend/fold/tear apart" manner that subscription renewal forms (found in magazines) and forms found in bills (which are meant to be separated from the main portion of the letter). Simply put, after only using this almanac for several days, nearly all the map/photo sections' pages have been inadvertedly separated -torn, albeit cleanly, from the book. The only remedy might be employing superglue to permanently re-attach them. I've encountered this problem with other prior almanacs, but it's still unacceptable.

Notwithstanding this flaw, the Times Almanac is a great intellengently-organized information source for all of 2002's events and nearly any statistic you may want to find.

The "Time Almanac 2003" showed only a marginal improvement over the 2002 edition. It is a book to depend on if your interests lie mainly on U.S. data, (which constitute over 60% of its entire coverage). If you want an impeccable global infobase, you need to look farther. There are scanty non-U.S. details here. Perhaps, a comprehensive encyclopaedia would be a better alternative.
Like the (so-called) "World Almanac and Book of Facts", "Time" divulges little when the issue concerns developing countries. Still, its data authenticity is far better than what the "World Almanac" offers. They are more current too!
However, I must add that "Time" has a lot of work to do if it aspires to be truly 'global'.