Customer Reviews

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2003

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

 

 

The World Almanac is still the worlds best-selling almanac by far. I think it is best known and liked for being an inexpensive, compact, reliable fact-filled reference source, where you are most likely to find what you want fast, if you do not get too engrossed in too many other things along the way. There are the usual chapters, with everything from economics to arts and media to states of the U.S., nations of the world, and lots of sports. The new 2003 edition, like every edition, is extensively updated, and also has new features to make it stand out from the one before. The World Almanac 2003 has several feature articles related to terrorism, in the wake of 9-11. One of the new features in the rest of the book is a bunch of World Almanac Quick Quizzes spread around the chaptersyou can try thinking up the answer to the question, find it in the chapter, or look it up in the answer key. There are also factoids spread around the book, and the usual familiar features such as Top Ten News Stories and Offbeat News. The new edition has more science coverage than ever before, and the Noted Personalities and Calendar chapters were both expanded. Like last year, readers can also subscribe to a free E-newsletter that provides monthly updates after the book is published. All in all, it is still a big bargain and makes a great gift. Its a tradition in my family that I give everyone a copy as a Christmas present every year.

The World Almanac has been around since 1868. It has changed a lot, not necessarily for the better. For example, there used to be a much more comprehensive, day-by-day look at the news of the previous year . Still, this is better than the other five almanacs I just went through at a bookstore and is the only one I plan to buy this year. In particular it has clear and concise info on the states of the U.S.and the countries of the world. It is also still the only almanac to present comprehensive election results of the last two presidential elections. There are more pages yet less to read than 30 years ago, but I can't find a better almanac in English.

As someone who live outside the U.S.A. but has been consistent with the "World Almanac and Book of Facts" for more than ten years now, it is my wish to commend its editors for their efforts.
However,in thanking them, it is also my wish to point out that there is only a marginal difference between this new edition and the ones that were released two and three years ago. Many date-sensitive facts in this new edition are just too old. They are in dire need of updating!
Also, since more than half of its contents are about the U.S., it may not be easy to convince non-Americans of its global outlook. Hence, I feel that the size of this book should be increased in order to accommodate more facts from African, Asian, East European and South American countries, whose individual country facts hardly go more than two-thirds of a page.
This book comes at a reasonable price. But the general perspective will be wonderful if the afore-mentioned 'facts' are taken care of: even if it means increasing the price a little bit.

I thoroughly enjoy reading this book. The information is quite current (most statistics are updated to somewhere between 2000 - 2002). All of the information is very relevant to an American, and condensed into dense nuggets.

What I really like about this Almanac is that I can leaf to any page while I have a few minutes free and get some nuggets of information that help me be an informed citizen. I do not have to read this cover to cover. I can read a page or even a half page in a few minutes to get useful data.

There's really not much I would change about this Almanac. I would like to see the price point go down to the single digits... if the editors want to include advertising to bring down the cost, so be it.

I recently bought a copy of "The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2003" for my workplace, and the book has gotten a lot of use. It's both a practical source of useful information and a fun thing to read in spare minutes.

The book reviews the top news stories of 2002, and includes coverage of the war on terrorism. There is a chronology covering 11 Oct. 2001 to 15 Oct 2002. The almanac is packed full of data in many categories: the U.S. government, arts and the media, awards, languages, religions, astronomy, nations of the world, etc. To make the book easy to use there is not only a one-page quick reference index and a more extensive general index, but also a quick thumb index on the back cover.

So if you want to know the salary of the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, the name of the winner of the 1918 Pulitzer Prize in poetry, the surface area of the island of Elba, the number of Buddhists in Europe, or a huge number of other global facts, you've come to the right source.

I love the World Almanac. I buy one every year and have done so since 1985. I look at my collection as a solid historical archive. That said, I am very disappointed that the publishers chose to rush to the bookstore and ignored two very important stories that typically occur at the end of each year. The World Series is completely missing, much to my chagrin, since my beloved Angels finally won the title. I guess I'll have to wait until next year to read about it. And, of course, the U.S. Congressional elections. No matter what your political leanings, a GOP majority in all branches is news.

When I think of the World Almanac, I don't think hot of the presses up to the second sound bites. I think of it as a long term archived historical record. I would be more than willing to wait another six weeks to get a FULL review of the year, rather than suffer with a "downsized" version just to get the book out sooner. For instant news, I'll go to the internet. For the long view, I need the Almanac.

I will continue to purchase the World Almanac every year, and I sincerely hope that the publishers reconsider their schedule.

The World Almanac is the standard. Every year it's got all the information you need: economic statistics, historical data, states and presidents and sports. It's great again this year, except that the publishers rushed it to print and ignored the 2002 Congressional elections. Election data, state-by-state returns, are one of the key attractions of the Almanac, so this is a sore disappointment. Suggest that future readers, before buying, check to see if it covers the elections returns. If not, give it a pass.

I heartily concur with the reviewer who castigated the publishers for going to press too early to include the 2002 World Series and, what is more important, the midterm election results. The latter omission makes the almanac's list of the year's biggest news stories strange indeed: surely the fact that for the first time in a half century Republicans will have full control of both Congress and the White House is noteworthy. Is the almanac's mission to record the major events of the year, or is it to beat its competitors to the newsstands and book racks? This is cynical and shoddy publishing.

Contains a lot of (mostly) up-to-date information for the curious/bored mind. For your money, best value in Alamanacs.

There seem to be a lot more almanacs on the market than there used to be, and after reading through the World Almanac 2003 I'm understanding why. Compared to its competitors, this book is difficult to read and poorly organized. Although there are some interesting news features, the incredibly small print leaves you with eye strain when reading them. On the whole, it seems there is little effort put in to make this book different from those of the previous years. The personalities entries are especially skimpy and offer little information, and the photos are not worth a second look.