Customer Reviews

Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, Eleventh Edition

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

 

 

My old 5th edition (1977) of this atlas sustained some water damage, so I decided to upgrade to the new 11th. My 2 stars are in relationship to a previous 5 stars. Perhaps I would rate it higher if I didn't have an earlier edition to compare it with. It's not all bad: there is a new enlarged view of southern China and Taiwan, a larger map of Korea, a blown-up view of central Japan, a new enlarged view of central Mexico, better coverage of South America, etc. Also some inevitable trade-offs, e.g. two nice expanded views of California, but the big map of Alaska is gone.

There are several major problem areas, however: a couple of glaring examples: in the older version of central Italy, the scale is 1:1,000,000 and includes a detailed map of Rome which is laid over the sea off the west of the peninsula. In the new version, the scale is only 1:1,250,000 which includes a vast, empty expanse of the Tyrrhenian Sea taking up about half of the whole map. The map of southern Italy is even worse: it is the same reduced 1:1,250,000 and is about 3/4 empty ocean, whereas the older version has the more detailed 1:1,000,000 scale which also shows more detailed views of Sardinia and Sicily, and much less empty ocean.

Greece and its islands also show up smaller in the new version (the page dimensions are the same!). Standard written Greek contains an accent-mark for each longer word, to show where it has the stress; my old 5th edition faithfully records this information for the towns, rivers, etc., but in this "new improved" edition the accent-marks are all gone! The new version has a 1:3,000,000 map of the whole of Turkey, including generous swaths of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean; the older version had two much more detailed (1:2,000,000) maps of eastern and western Turkey.

The scale on the New York/New Jersey map is about the same in both editions; the older has a 1:250,000 scale map of the NYC urban area filling in the large area of ocean s.e. of the city, but in the new version that map is gone, all we have left is the big empty ocean. I'm sure that saved them some money, but not if nobody wants to buy it.....

The city maps which were tucked into "low-rent" spaces (empty ocean etc.) in many, many places in the old versions are now all gone, so goodbye also to the big beautiful maps of the London and Paris metropolitan areas (2 full pages each): no city-maps allowed!

Although the paper-quality is good, and the inking has a crisp, clean look, the topography is not as much fun as before: everything is in a lighter shade (they saved themselves some more money!) and so the distinctions between lowland and mountainous areas are not as clear as before.
I was going to donate my older atlas to the department library, but now I'm going to keep it! I feel like the new version is a kind of insult to my intelligence: I don't need to see all of Turkey together to realize it is a single country, what I expect to see in a big, expensive atlas is DETAIL, not cost-cutting. Since this is supposed to be the best, I would be willing to pay even a little more, if I got my money's worth. This atlas may still be the best, but its high price combined with the loss of previous valuable features may cause potential buyers to look more at the competition, e.g. the Oxford Atlas of the World.

The Times Atlas made its reputation by being the best atlas in the English Language. In previous editions, its detail and scale was as good as you could get(except for the briefly available and slightly less comprehensive Book of the World from Macmillan). This latest edition may still be better than anything else out there, but I haven't bought it even though I'd like to update. I've looked it over in stores, and the user who noted the reduced scales is right on the mark. I think all of the map scales have been reduced somewhat from earlier editions. He's probably also right about the clarity of the cartography. All in all, I'd say they had poor judgment in downgrading. This was the atlas for people who really knew maps, wanted the best and were willing to pay for it. Now it's a disappointment.

This atlas sets the standard for all others.

I have been using older editions of the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, and no other atlas comes close to this one in terms of user-friendliness and degree of detail.

The second-best choice to the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World is the Oxford University Press's "Atlas of the World". It has the same user-friendly overview over the maps contained in the atlas ("Key to the World/European Map Pages") on the insides of the front and back hardcover. And it has the same comprehensive index of names in the back, featuring not only the location of a certain place on the grid of a map, but also the place's longitude and latitude.

The main difference is the size of the two: The Times Atlas is 19 by 13.3 inches, the Oxford Atlas is 15 by 11.3 inches. The bigger-sized maps of the Times Atlas allow greater detail. In degree of detail, no atlas beats the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World.

If you want to buy an atlas for keeps and you don't have small kids who love to finger your treasures - this is the one to get!

I bought this edition to replace our family copy of the 5th edition, which dated from the 80s, and preceded the collapse of the Soviet Union, the new boundaries of Eastern Europe, etc. and so was due for replacement. In terms of quality of the maps, and the detail of the information they convey, this edition is inferior to its predecessor. However, considered in isolation, without reference to its superior predecessors, this Atlas is a wonderful work of art and reference.

I get the sense that there was an effort to produce the work to a 'price point' and I wish the publishers had aimed a little higher, since if I only buy one of these things every 20 years or so, I can afford to pay up. Like an encylcopedia, since the explosion of the internet an atlas is an odd form of reference work. It is bought out of very mixed motives. I suspect the genre will be re-engineered one of these days, and volumes like this one will seem as antiquidated as an oil painting.

I could have met my basic needs with something cheaper, but wanted something better. I am not a map junkie the way some of the reviewers of this volume, and I would defer completely to their superior knowledge (or, at least, passion). But compromise in luxury goods is a dicey proposition, and that's what this is.

I wanted to update my 25-year-old Rand McNally International Atlas, and based on various reviews, it seemed that the Times Comprehensive 11th ed was the top of the line, so I purchased it. Imagine my disappointment when the first thing I looked up in it was missing. A friend had taken a recent trip to see the temples at Bagan, Myanmar, which is that country's number one tourist destination. However, none of the 7 plates in the Times Comprehensive 11th ed that depicted the central Myanmar region where Bagan is located actually showed that important site. By contrast, my old Rand McNally atlas has only one plate depicting Myanmar, but Bagan is on it. Based on this initial disappointment,and given its high price, I would need to gain a lot more positive experience with the Times Comprehensive 11th ed before I would recommend it unreservedly to others.

I own various atlases and periodically I buy a new one for the updates.Previously I bought both the Oxford and the DK Millenium edition. While investigating for an updated version I came across this atlas and based on the reviews at Amazon and my comparisons I bought it.
This is the best by far even though it is pricey. The quality of the print, the details, and the fact that the middle of the page does not affect the maps make a huge difference. The only observation is that there are not the flags of the nations which could make it even more complete.

This is beautiful atlas !
This is the more complete !
But compare from the others , this is less accurate for several regions :

- no map for Alaska
- many maps of small islands are ridiculous ( comparing others atlases )( carribean, mediterranean, and pacific islands have a scale too low )
- maps for India are "too smalls"
- Balkan's region isn't enough accurate
- this is the same thing for the scale of Madagascar

You can appreciate :

- scale of maps of Africa
- scale of maps of Europe
- scale of maps of South America
- scale of maps of Russia
- scale of maps of Australia
- scale of maps of China and Central Asia

I have read the other criticisms and they are valid. But when you compare this atlas to the competition, it has to receive 5 stars or the many of the others would not receive any stars. I used Goodes Atlas for years and hated every minute of it. It is so poorly done. The main problem you will have with this atlas is being able to pick it up. It is that large and that heavy.

There are 125 plates. There is a graphical index (world map) to the map plates inside the front cover so with one quick glance at the index you can find the plate you are looking for. It even tells you the scale of the maps on the index. Most of the maps are at a reasonable scale, but unfortunately not all. For example Alaska is at 1:12,500,000 appended on to northern Canada and Greenland. Another criticism is that some of the feature names are very difficult to read, some rivers especially. They are printed in italics. The index indexes towns and also most geographical features. It does not index national parks though. The index is almost half the book.

I have always been a fan of atlases and I received this atlas a birthday gift. Absolutely amazing. This atlas has the most comprehensive index I've seen in a world atlas. Also the coverage of the Antarctic continent is very thorough, something that almost all other world atlases lack. 5 stars, excellent atlas.

I believe sending me a request to review this GR8 Atlas (I have had one before), is Amazon's staff way of being sarcastic. The Atlas has still not been delivered after one month and a request for a replacement has resulted in a credit for only half the amount paid, due to somebodies inability to identify that I had been charged US$174 (88 British Pounds, which is the currency of my card) and that the amount credited should also be the equivalent of $174 NOT US$88. Sorry to put this up against the best Atlas on the market, but perhaps sometime in the future Amazon will realise their mistake over this comedy of errors.