The Times of London Concise Atlas of the World: Eighth Edition [Hardcover]

London Times (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0609608908 | ISBN-13: 978-0609608906 | Publication Date: May 29, 2001 | Edition: 8

The Times of London Atlas of the World has long been famous for its authority and for setting the standard in world reference atlas publishing. This eighth concise edition is a completely new atlas in that tradition, redesigned, updated, and expanded.

* The 260 pages of mapping, with new reference maps that are completely up to date, include even more information at larger scales than previous editions.

* Employing the latest technology, each map is individually designed to use the optimum parameters of scale and projection for maximum legibility, clarity, and accessibility while providing detailed information on the physical and human landscape.

* Each map has been carefully selected to provide balanced coverage of all regions of the world with larger scale mapping of more populous areas.

* A new introductory section, The World Today, includes stunning high-resolution satellite images of the continents, features on the planets, earthquakes, volcanoes, the oceans, climate, land cover, population, urbanization, minerals, energy, and communications. This section also includes a complete guide to the states and territories of the world with all of the latest data and statistics.

* Thirty-two detailed plans of the world's great cities are provided.

* An information-packed guide to the states and territories of the world is included.

* The comprehensive index to over 100,000 place names fully cross-referenced for ease of use.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The Times of London Atlas of the World has long been famous for its authority and for setting the standard in world reference atlas publishing. This eighth concise edition is a completely new atlas in that tradition, redesigned, updated, and expanded.

* The 260 pages of mapping, with new reference maps that are completely up to date, include even more information at larger scales than previous editions.

* Employing the latest technology, each map is individually designed to use the optimum parameters of scale and projection for maximum legibility, clarity, and accessibility while providing detailed information on the physical and human landscape.

* Each map has been carefully selected to provide balanced coverage of all regions of the world with larger scale mapping of more populous areas.

* A new introductory section, The World Today, includes stunning high-resolution satellite images of the continents, features on the planets, earthquakes, volcanoes, the oceans, climate, land cover, population, urbanization, minerals, energy, and communications. This section also includes a complete guide to the states and territories of the world with all of the latest data and statistics.

* Thirty-two detailed plans of the world's great cities are provided.

* An information-packed guide to the states and territories of the world is included.

* The comprehensive index to over 100,000 place names fully cross-referenced for ease of use.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 8 edition (May 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609608908
• ISBN-13: 978-0609608906
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 1.7 x 14.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,984,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

172 of 172 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stuffed with incredibly accurate information., May 29, 2001

By 

Jan-Willem van Aalst - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Times of London Concise Atlas of the World: Eighth Edition (Hardcover)

Of the dozens of recent world atlases that I have seen in the past seven years, this one overall speaking offers the most value of all. This world atlas is advertised as "an abridged version of the famous Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World", but it is absolutely more than just that. Without doubt, this 8th Concise edition is by far the best rendition of the world on paper available in 2000 (fully generated from digital GIS databases).

New maps in this set of unbelievably accurate plates include central Japan, the Washington-New York area, and Central Mexico. Also, urban center maps of the world's largest cities have now been included on the reference maps themselves, something that is missing in the Comprehensive edition. The color coding has improved considerably compared to previous editions; though not completely consistent overall, most maps are beautiful to look at, and provide for a very high level of legibility because of the subtle coloring (no relief shading, but layer tints are used, which reduces the 3D effect, but does add to the overall legibility of the maps). The font sizes have been reduced too, allowing for the available space to be used much more efficiently (though some elderly people may find the fonts too small). This results in an index size of over 125,000 entries, which is absolutely stunning for a world atlas of this size (the nearest competitor reaches 112,000, most are stuck at 100,000 entries). The maps include many local roads, points of interest, national parks, nature reserves, and, amazingly, lots of villages with a population of less than 1,000.

The thematic section has been expanded as well to include highly detailed satellite images of the continents, topics such as earthquakes, volcanoes, climate, oceans, population, urbanization, and modern communications. There is also a nice section on revolutions in cartography, comparing the time-consuming process of using copper plates for map production to the current digital database possibilities. There is also an elaborate section on the states and territories of the world. The atlas also has a few minor negative points: the gutter between the pages is sometimes so small that some data is lost between the pages; and, the focus is mostly on Europe; especially North America should have deserved a bit more attention.

Since this world atlas is marketed in North America only, the publisher apparently assumes that customers do not need more U.S. maps, but are interested in other parts of the world. If that is true, this world atlas is bound to become a bestseller. The atlas comes in hardback format including a protective slipcase and may be considered a very large book, but not so large that it becomes un-handable. Kudos to Times!

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superior Atlas, September 20, 2001

By 

Tim Agnello (cincinnati, ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Times of London Concise Atlas of the World: Eighth Edition (Hardcover)

One of the best atlas's I have seen. Excellent satellite images & detailed thematic maps. Almost a work of art. Well worth the price. Geography on paper at its finest.

42 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Times of London Concise Atlas of the World, February 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Times of London Concise Atlas of the World: Eighth Edition (Hardcover)

Excellent for crossword puzzles! Load of references, easy to read (no blue on blue), no pages wasted on United States individual state's maps. One test we used in looking for an atlas was to see if Palau was shown -- this atlas passed with flying colors, showing the individual islands. Exactly what we needed as a great reference.