Product Description
At the turn of the sixteenth century, princes and navigators presided over a geographical revolution that fundamentally altered the way people viewed the world. Focusing on the great traveller and map maker, Andr Thevet, Lestringant examines the audacity of the cosmographer, who rivaled God in the creation of new worlds. Accused of blasphemy and mocked for his encyclopedic aims, Thevet is a wonderful example of how knowledge was transformed during the decline of the Renaissance.Lestringant describes Thevet's mapping of a Brazil of Amazons, cannibals, and kings. He describes how French colonialists' experience with the Tupinamba Indians gave rise to the myth of the noble savage. He discusses the European acceptance of the image of the naked cannibal at a time of religious and social crisis. Mapping the Renaissance World is a brilliant account of the part played by the French in the conquest of the New World. ... Read more

Product Description
On the eveof the 500th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America, Rand McNally presents a lavish treasury of the maps and charts followed by the early explorers, accompanied by a concise narrative that conveys each map's significance, detail and beauty. ... Read more

Product Description
More than 15 centuries after its fall, the Roman Empire continues to profoundly influence world history. This atlas traces the empire's rise and fall, looking at its provinces and cities, trade and economy, armies and frontier defenses; charting its transformation into a Christian theocracy; and assessing its lasting impact. Full color.Amazon.com Review
Matching clear graphics with informative text, ChristopherScarre's atlas gives a fine overview of Roman history from theemergence of the first city-state in the eighth century B.C. to therise of Christian theocracy a millennium later. The PenguinHistorical Atlas of Ancient Rome is especially helpful in showingthe growth of the Roman empire through successive centuries ofmilitary campaigning from Scotland to Arabia and in delineating thenetworks of trade, transit, and communication that bound the far-flungoutposts to the imperial capital. Scarre notes that many of thosenetworks still survive in one form or another. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Great service
Order was filled quickly.The historical atlas is great and will be a welcome addition to my class.

Not Quite An Atlas...
Perhaps it should be called, "Penguin's Lavishly Illustrated but Brief History of Ancient Rome With a Bunch of Maps."As some reviewers have mentioned, it's really too small -- both in map quantity and size -- to earn the name of an atlas.

Despite that, and the errors mentioned above, there is a lot of info in this book that can be useful -- and some of it is hard to find in other places.The map of sailing times across the Mediterranean, for example, presents information I've only found in Lionel Casson's excellent books -- and presents it in a form much easier to use.

As others have mentioned, the pictures are nice, and the captions are informative.While it falls somewhat short of an atlas, I use it as a quick supplement to other references -- but now I'll be careful to verify what I find here.

What I'm really looking for is a book of large-scale maps of the city and environs of Rome itself from say, 400 BC to 400 AD -- now that would be useful!

Decent Introduction
A quick and reasonable overview of Roman history.This short book provides the basic narrative, historical geography, and some highlighting of specific topics like art, funerary customs, and religions.A good introduction for high school students or early undergrads with little prior knowledge of classical history.

Starting point.
This short book is an excellent introduction to Roman history. It is divided into easy to digest chapters which deal with a single theme.

Good but should have been bigger.
The atlas is not that large.I bought four similar atlases all from Penguin and they are all thin books (< 150 pages) and small in size (10" x 7").
Atlases are supposed to be hugh.
However this (and the other 3 books) do contain loads of information.
The book skims over the Republican era.The first map at page 22 and by page 32 the Republic is over.
The book has only a few maps of the expansion of Rome within Italy (hardly a mention of the Samnites, or Sabines; and one small blip on the map for Sparticus)
It has a few maps of Asia Minor at this time.With Carthage and the Punic wars taking up most of these few pre-Empire maps.
Maybe 10 maps to cover 600 years.

We then have many maps to cover the next three hundred years.

Then the book ends abruptly.Shows Constantine's Empire and then quickly shows the Germanic kingdoms and the new Byzantine Empire.And it is over.No maps of Parthia or the neo Persian empires.No maps of the distribution of Germanic tribes outside of Roman areas.

I would have liked to have a bigger book with larger maps.Too many maps cover two pages, so the book binding obscures some information and making a scan of a map is very hard.

On the plus it has many other types of information (unfortunately sometimes repeated by the author in the start of a chapter and later in some specific article).
The types of info include the economy, currency (25 silver Denarius = 1 gold Aureus), the legions (names and numbers at different times), how mines work, the olive oil industry, and of course articles on emperors, politics and religion.A good dozen examples of city maps and a legion camp are shown.

On the whole a good reference and a good read on the history of Rome.But of course a real book with 1000+ pages is required to cover all aspects of the Roman empire.So this is a great companion atlas to that other book.I also got Penguin's Ancient & Medieval Histories (2xMcEvedy) and Ancient Civilizations (Haywood).Together all four give you the info to cover Rome very well. ... Read more

Product Description
This comprehensive collection of maps and information about the Salton Sea illustrates the environmental, cultural, and ecological processes affecting a rich and complex ecosystem. Diagrams, text, photos, charts, and maps are used to document the social and physical history of the area as well as the current state of the surrounding region. Illustrated through the use of geographic information systems technology are the factors that influence the sea-physical geography, cultural history, and ecology. The limnology of the sea is discussed, and its future is considered. Also provided are 50 maps detailing the sea's geology, environment, and human influences. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Salton Sea splash
I think it is remarkable that a rather small part of California could produce such a fascinating (and visually stunning) book but the Salton Sea is a quite remarkable place, especially considering it's only a few decades old.One bit of information that grabbed me is on page forty where a graphic profile of the Sea reveals that it is, on average, only fifty-one feet deep compared with Lake Tahoe which is 1645 feet at its deepest.

The Atlas is sectioned into five chapters: Physical geography, Cultural history, Limnology, Ecology, and Maps.The first four take up about half the pages and assorted maps, index and bibliography the rest.The main strength of the book, I think, are the non-map pages because they present a lot of complex information in a beautifully designed graphic format.Old maps and photographs, charts, illustrations of marine and bird life, cut-away graphics of land and more are all laid out with very clean typography on the large page size.Add quality paper and printing (with a 175 screen) and anyone looking through these pages will be easily drawn into this on-going story of the Salton.

The map pages are equally interesting and there really is a lot of technical data here but still presented in an accessible format.The range of information is quite comprehensive, for example: public land ownership, recreation areas, commercial facilities, energy usage, property values and median incomes, early exploration, earthquakes, soil types, surface hydrology right down to four maps showing the Sea's sediment grain size distribution.The nice thing about the maps is that they not only detail the Sea area also large parts of southern California.

This Atlas is a credit to all those who worked on it (and should really be template for any similar publications) for making the Salton come alive in such a stimulating way.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Salton Sea
A beautiful, informative and spectacular oversized book on the Salton Sea. A place that needs to be saved and understood. This book will start your journey.

Excellent
--Just wanted to second the comments of the other reviewers regarding the quality and presentation of this book.It's a scientific work undertaken by the Salton Sea Database Program of the Redlands Institute of the University of Redlands, but it's enclosed within a lovely and large glossy coffee table book.It also includes much information about the cultural history of the Salton Sea and its region in a remote part of the southern California desert.I especially enjoyed the beautiful wildlife illustrations and biological information, though most of the book covers the physical science of the Salton Sea.I gave a copy to someone at a Christmas party held many miles away at the Orange County coast, and people literally were waiting and nagging for their turn to look through this beautiful book about this mysterious and controversial inland subtropical sea.

A Special Publication
This book is wonderful!I highly recommend it.

The Salton Sea Atlas covers the complex issues facing this very special body of water in a clear, yet comprehensive, fashion (use of graphics and illustrations over exhaustive use of text).It's a beautiful book, and the most wide-ranging piece about the Salton Sea that I've been able to find.You will not be disappointed with it.

Buy this book

An important guide about an invaluable resource
The Salton Sea Atlas explores issues and information regarding California's largest lake and most valuable environmental resource -- the Salton Sea.

This book is a must for those interested in the Salton Sea, environmental change, water issues in the American Southwest, history, or geography.Its graphical synthesis of complex social, scientific, and geographic information is superb and can be appreciated by all audiences.This is a wonderful publication.

I recommend it wholeheartedly ... Read more

Product Description
This magnificently produced atlas provides a unique visual survey of the profound economic, political, and social changes taking place in China, as well as their implications for the world at large. Completely revised and updated throughout, this new edition of The State of China Atlas marks a radical departure from conventional cartography and provides a fast, highly effective way of conveying large amounts of information through the medium of the map.
China is the world's fastest-growing economy and the second-largest trading nation. With its entrepreneurial outlook and population of 1.3 billion, it offers unique opportunities for domestic and overseas investors. This dynamic volume provides an abundance of information on China's new wealth, growing unemployment, migration to the cities, and trade disputes. It dramatically reveals China's clashes of priorities: between population growth and the one-child family policies; human rights and political stability; energy needs and the environment. Maps and graphics beautifully illustrate current trends in areas such as the gender gap, national minorities, traffic, investment, marriage and divorce, education, tobacco trade and use, religion, AIDS and SARS, ageing and dependency, and cell phone use.
* Completely revised and updated
* Vivid full-color maps convey a wealth of information quickly and efficiently
* Comprehensive information on China's population, employment, agriculture, industry, and economics

Copub: Myriad Editions Limited ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

This is not a good book for detailed maps
I probably didn't understand this was a book with general maps showing demographics and economic information, and not a "road atlas".It has very good info if you want to understand demographics using good visual charts, etc., but you can't use it for just having detailed maps of the China regions and cities.

China's growing pains, by the numbers
"The State of China Atlas" by Benewick and Donald

Although described as an atlas, this is a misnomer because there are no provincial or regional maps.

This book, published in 2009, describes the rapid industrial develpoment of China in recent years, and many of the problems that have arisen, such as ill-distribution of wealth and environmental pollution.

The narrative is backed up by plenty of statistics on different aspects of China, drawn from the many sources listed at the end of the book. Some statistics are in tabular form; others are bar charts and pie charts. Others again are presented as maps of China divided into provinces, each illustrating a particular achievement or problem.

There are also some interesting charts showing the political hierarchy of Communist China.

The overall picture of this great nation is not entirely flattering.

I noticed two errors that had gone undetected. Firstly the map of China divided into provinces, which is used repeatedly throughout the book, shows the provincial boundary between Sichuan and Chongqing in the wrong place, giving Chongqing a large area to the southwest which really belongs to Sichuan. Secondly there is a column of data showing that (incredibly) the annual population growth rates of provinces are in the exact alphabetical order of province name, with Anhui having the fastest growth and Zhejiang having the slowest growth!

Apart from these minor blemishes, for which I deducted one star, this book provides many interesting insights into the state of modern China and its growing pains. There is also a pocket edition of this book, containing similar material, but I do not see much need to carry a book like this on your travels.

A more polished work, including regional maps of China, is the National Geographic "Atlas of China" which I recommend. More geographical detail, including an individual map of each province, can be found on the web site of the Muztagh Travel Service.

State of China Atlas: Revealing and easy to use & read
This book is excellent.One can quickly and easily learn the latest condition on various aspects of China's economy, enviroment, religion and many other aspects.Highly recommend for anyone wanting to understand China.

Chinese studies?You probably need this.
This book is very useful for anyone studying Chinese demographics, sociology or development.It has a plethora of maps and statistics that will help to build an image in the eye of the reader of China's developmental momentum, including its multitudinal problems.

However, be aware that the data is essentially a snapshot in time from surveys and data collected prior to publishing and this book's usefulness will decline as new data becomes available.With the speed that China is developing, clearly this book will need to be republished every few years.

Just now, however, it is still a very worthy purchase to give you a better understanding of the internal and external state of China, as well as the trends and mechanics of this huge nation.

A great beginninng place for a China beginner
Graphically inviting, the atlas organizes data relating to many topics in a map-like manner.One can scan information on politics, education, religion and a score of other subjects.And it's in a handy magazine format. ... Read more

Product Description
State-of-the-art cartography is organized chronologically by region to chart the fascinating course of North American exploration from the pre-Columbian voyages to the race to the North Pole in 1909. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

An essential addition to your library of American History
This is an excellent reference tool for any student of American history,As the title states, the atlas includes all of North America.The book is especially good in detailing the early exploration of the southwest.There are also extensive sections on the early exploration of Canada.

The format of the book is well thought out.Detailed maps are accompanied by a generous amount of text that explain and augment the maps.The maps are fairly detailed and have a wealth of information.The maps do a very good job of showing the major and minor river systems that figured in the history of North American exploration.It is this kind of detail that makes this book very helpful.

Not only is the book a good stand alone reference, it is also a good supplement to have near at hand when you are reading the journals or history of early explorers.I have found that many editions of the early journals of explorers (and many history books about this subject) do not contain enough maps (or detailed enough maps).This book helps you keep the geographical picture straight in you mind.

If you have an interest in this history of exploration, this book is a must.If you are a student of American history, this book is highly recommended.Enjoy!

Map lovers take note
This book is a history of exploration of the North American continent, revealed mainly in pictures and maps of the particular exploration. It starts with John Cabot's exploration off the coast of Newfoundland in 1497, and ends with Peary's race to the North Pole in 1909. Scores of important exploring ventures are described and mapped. An added feature is a very thorough bibliography. A feast for the eye--and mind.

A beautiful but flawed book...
In creating this book of maps, the authors have not merely stepped on one of my pet peeves.They have kicked it, stompedit, gouged it, whipped it, and beaten it with a stick.My pet peeve is maps that have no mileage scale.I see it all too often in newspapers and magazines.Maybe ignorant reporters and editors can be excused.But how can these scholars give us an entire book of maps without a single mileage scale?Besides knowing the routes of the explorers, we want to know how far was their journey from one point to another.

I would like to know why mileage scales were omitted.Did the editor think people would use the maps for navigation and sue the publisher for any errors?If this omission was just an accidental oversight, then it should have been corrected before the book was published.Please explain.

But, that said, this is a beautiful and interesting book.Most of the maps are a full page, and each map is accompanied by a page summarizing the accomplishments of each journey and its importance.Also, many of the maps are accompanied by a contemporary drawing, painting, litho, etc. that illustrates the journey.Students of early North American explorations will enjoy this book.If the authors will revise it and add mileage scales to the maps, then I'll raise my rating to a 5.

Valuable.Only a few criticisms.
This atlas serves a real need for any serious student of North American history.The alternative is to chase down many sources that have individualized map information for individual explorers.

In some cases,however, the colors are difficult to actually discern.There is so manyroute information, with so many colors that are similar, that it isdifficult to distinguish one route from another.

Also, a stated map scaleof both miles and kilometers for each map would be helpful.

Otherwisegreat!-- in my opinion.

Why is the atlas no longer in print, at leastat present?

Are the authors planning a revised copy?

I'd like theauthors to know about this, and receive a big pat on the back from this oldhistory student and high school history teacher.

Les Falk, Kelowna, BC,Canada ... Read more