Collins Essential Atlas of the World

Rating:
Summary: A little gem in its class
Review: Compiled from the outstanding digital databases of Bartholomew, this first edition Essential Atlas of the World by Collins is arguably setting a new standard for printed world atlases. In a contemporary world coverage, where Europe finally gets what it deserves: only about one fifth of the plates, this release offers an extremely accurate and detailed view of our world at the end of the twentieth century. The fonts are appropriately chosen and make the plates highly legible. Although the Collins atlases have lost their identity in terms of typefaces and names density, color usage is still old-fashioned Collins. The index offers about 45,000 entries, which is considerably more than the index that atlases of comparable sizes offer (about 32,000). This is all the more amazing since the price is quite afforable for what it offers: It is a good buy indeed, at the cost of it being merely a paperback release. This gives the atlas a somewhat cheap appearance at first. Don't be fooled - this is one of the finest atlases available today in its class, full-grown to match the fame of the Times atlases.