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Rating: 
Summary: Geography Buffs, Rejoice!
Review: First off, let me start by saying the cover of this book shown is misleading. This is the cover for the larger, atlas-size, hard cover version of Geographicas World Reference. The cover is really blue with the outline of the globe, not green with a topographical map as shown. Don't be misled thinking that this book is big, because it isn't. More on that in a sec.I'm a huge geography/travel buff and when I first skimmed through this book I knew I had to have it. It starts off by discussing Planet Earth as it relates to the universe and as a habitat for man. Following this, it moves on to people and society -- ie: evolution, health, languages. Both sections are written much like an encyclopedia, complete with pictures, statistics and timelines. Then comes my favorite part of the book. Every country in the world is treated, from 11 pages of the United States right down to 1.7 sq. mile Jarvis Island on the Equator. Most countries have beautiful pictures and all have useful reference facts - capitals, area, time zone, population, climate, currency. Finally there are maps divided up by region that show these countries, their cities, rivers, mountains and so forth. Okay, perhaps this book IS a lot like an encyclopedia. But it's much more compact. It would make a great reference to a library or, if you're like me and you love geography and/or traveling, you can brush up on your world capitals or read & dream about all the places you want to visit.
Rating:
Summary: Geography Buffs, Rejoice!
Review: First off, let me start by saying the cover of this book shown is misleading. This is the cover for the larger, atlas-size, hard cover version of Geographicas World Reference. The cover is really blue with the outline of the globe, not green with a topographical map as shown. Don't be misled thinking that this book is big, because it isn't. More on that in a sec. I'm a huge geography/travel buff and when I first skimmed through this book I knew I had to have it. It starts off by discussing Planet Earth as it relates to the universe and as a habitat for man. Following this, it moves on to people and society -- ie: evolution, health, languages. Both sections are written much like an encyclopedia, complete with pictures, statistics and timelines. Then comes my favorite part of the book. Every country in the world is treated, from 11 pages of the United States right down to 1.7 sq. mile Jarvis Island on the Equator. Most countries have beautiful pictures and all have useful reference facts - capitals, area, time zone, population, climate, currency. Finally there are maps divided up by region that show these countries, their cities, rivers, mountains and so forth. Okay, perhaps this book IS a lot like an encyclopedia. But it's much more compact. It would make a great reference to a library or, if you're like me and you love geography and/or traveling, you can brush up on your world capitals or read & dream about all the places you want to visit.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Nice Book, But...
Review: I really enjoy geography, and I love this book for its nicely done easy access to basic facts about all the world's countries. The book covers the "Big Bang" to E-Commerce while neglecting the fact that the "Big Bang" is only a theory and treating it as fact. (Shucks, God might have been a programmer and we really came into being through Philosophy's "Black Box Theory". :) It also fails to discuss "Lifeboat Ethics" and the "J-curve" or "carrying capacity". But, the book is overall an excellent and beautifully done resource. It is the first I reach for when I want to find out about a place. I would have given this book five stars except it fails to provide a quick reference to the worlds longest, largest, highest, deepest, rivers, mountains, lakes etc.
Rating:
Summary: Very Nice Book, But...
Review: I really enjoy geography, and I love this book for its nicely done easy access to basic facts about all the world's countries. The book covers the "Big Bang" to E-Commerce while neglecting the fact that the "Big Bang" is only a theory and treating it as fact. (Shucks, God might have been a programmer and we really came into being through Philosophy's "Black Box Theory". :) It also fails to discuss "Lifeboat Ethics" and the "J-curve" or "carrying capacity". But, the book is overall an excellent and beautifully done resource. It is the first I reach for when I want to find out about a place. I would have given this book five stars except it fails to provide a quick reference to the worlds longest, largest, highest, deepest, rivers, mountains, lakes etc.
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