The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2002

Rating:
Summary: A Valuable Annual Tool, and an entertaing read!
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: This Year's Best Almanac
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Reference
Review: The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2002 is definitely one of my favorite all time reference books. I highly recommend it for detailed information about a wide range of subject areas, including the following: Features, Year in Review; Economy & Business; Noted Personalities; US Cities & States; Census 2000, US Population; Science, Computers, Astronomy; Consumer Information, Health, Travel; Nations of the World; and Sports.

Other similar almanacs include The New York Times Almanac 2002 and Time Almanac 2002; however, I prefer the World Almanac and Book of Facts 2002.

This almanac comes in both a paperback and a hardcover version - the hardcover edition "provides exactly the same content as the familiar paperback edition, but with bigger print, a larger page size, and deluxe, durable binding." In years past, I've gone for the paperback edition, but this year I splurged on the hardcover version - it is much easier to read, and I recommend it unless you're on a tight budget.

Rating:
Summary: Everything I wanted in an almanac
Review: There is so much information crammed into this book - I love it. The current events (year in review) sections of the almanac are quite up to date (through 10/10/2001), the horror of 9/11 is covered substantively. It includes all kinds of statistical information culled from the 2000 census. The best thing about this kind of almanac is the wealth and variety of information included. I found the brief historical sketches of the nations of the world to be particularly interesting and useful.

Rating:
Summary: A huge wealth of information
Review: 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.