Customer Reviews

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2002

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is without a doubt the best reference book on the market. I've had other almanacs, but none provide a more wide-ranging topic field in tight-knit organization. From governments to sports to entertainment to financial to sociological, The World Alamanac covers every miniature detail. Need to find the GDP of Argentina or the what day your birthday falls on in, say, 2023. It's all in there.

It makes for a great companion to any writer, student or a pair trying to settle a bet.

No other almanac comes close. This one is hands-down the best. This book, in its various annual editions, has always proven to be among the most reliable of reference texts for both of my professions. With this edition, I particularly enjoyed the deailed census data as well as THE WORLD ALMANAC's thorough coverage of Major League Baseball. This year's news photos were excellent. So was the coverage of the events of September 11 and its aftermath, a story that was still evolving as the almanac was being prepared for publication. All in all, THE WORLD ALMANAC 2002 is a extraordinary work.

There are many imitators on the market, some of them quite good, but this almanac has set the standard for more than a century. The New York World newspaper began publishing an almanac in 1868, "a 120-page volume with 12 pages of advertising." The newspaper suspended the almanac's publication in 1876, but publisher Joseph Pulitzer revived it in 1886 as a "compendium of universal knowledge." The almanac has been published annually since, outliving the newspaper whose name it still bears. (The World Almanac is not the oldest almanac in publication, however: that distinction belongs to The Old Farmer's Almanac, which is "North America's oldest continuously published periodical," founded in 1792.)

The World Almanac contains much useful information that belongs in any serious basic-reference set. For the world, the almanac presents basic statistics about each nation, and about the world's major religions; and summarizes the world's history, with more detailed histories of the United States and of the preceding year. For the United States, the almanac reprints the nation's organic documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; lists every community with a population over 5000, with its ZIP code and area code; lists every county (or parish or division) and county seat; contains a directory of the entire Federal government, including Congress and all congressional committees, every executive department, and every court and judge; presents basic statistics about each state and major city, and a short biography of each president; and much more. The almanac also contains bountiful information about education, science, sports, and many other topics. No other single volume offers such a wealth of information on such a variety of subjects.

I have bought this book every year for at least the last 20 years, and wouldn't miss it for the World. It provides a synopsis of the past years events, as well as a lot of science, entertainment and sports news. The facts and figures (population figures of several cities, Government represetatives, etc.) are also fascinating. To some, it would be a great source of business information, if that's what you're looking for.

It's only shortcoming this year, was it's failure to cover the 2001 World Series. Even though the games were held later than usual due to 9/11, it was only by a couple of weeks. They should have delayed publication until it's completion so that coverage of the games could be included.

I've purchased other annual almanacs, but this is only one I buy every year, and is by far the best of the breed!

This is this one of those items you must have around the house, it has so much useful info, and just facts you always wanted to know, and should know. Easy to naviagte through, a must buy item for every household.

I gave this to my husband for Christmas, and he has not been able to put it down since! We couldn't believe that it already had everything from the September 11 tragedy in there. It is a real keepsake item!

Did you know that the average American watches 31.5 hours of TV a week? Yikes!

That's the kind of info you'll find in this book, along with everything from weights and measures to the history of the world. It's endless fun. I recently used it to help pass the time on a long road trip.

Everyone should have one of these!

This book has a ton of information that people can use in one book. I was doing a report and I looked in here and there is a ton of information so you better buy this book if you need lots and lots of information on one little thing! So buy it today!!!!!!=)

Great read and great gift for someone who loves trivia. Perfect for teens, also.

This almanac is a great source of a huge variety of information. It's loaded with many charts and statistics on just about anything you can think of. From the population of major cities to the Nobel Prize awards you can always trust the Almanac to be useful. Finding information in this almanac is simple because of the index in the front and the quick index on the back cover.

Sometimes when I'm bored I pick up this almanac and find myself browsing through all the interesting information. This is a great book that can actually be fun to read and educational.