Product Description

Featuring 250 pages of updated detailed mapping and a specially commissioned 72 page introductory section, this atlas presents a comprehensive picture of the world in the 21st century. Since it's first edition in 1967, the atlas has sold over 1 million copies. Its detailed and mapping represents a blend of tradition, authority and style. The 10th edition, published in 1999, was the first completely new edition of the atlas since its introduction. Now this fully revised 11th edition brings all the reference maps and detailed thematic information completely up to date. The preliminary section is introduced by state-of-the-art satellite images of the continents and continues with a series of maps, images, photographs and graphics which present a detailed picture of today's physical world and man's interaction with it. The section also includes an account of the evolution of world maps and of significant developments in cartography, and concludes with detailed geographical information on the world's physical features and the world's states and territories. The reference maps, produced in the distinctive and authoritative Times style, present the most accurate and up-to-date representation of our knowledge of the earth today. The areas shown, and the scale and map projection of each plate, have been specifically chosen to give the best representation of each geographical area. The maps now include a brand new map of the world's physical features. The gazetteer-index to over 200,000 place names and geographical features illustrates the unique scope of the atlas. It includes full cross-referencing with alternative and former names, geographical coordinates of every settlement shown on the maps, and a comprehensive glossary of geographical terms. The atlas includes: a 72-page introductory section; 250 pages of reference maps of continents, countries and oceans; and a 224 page gazetteer index to over 200,000 place names and geographical features.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #615305 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-01
• Released on: 2005-10-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 544 pages

Customer Reviews

going downhill
My old 5th edition (1977) of this atlas sustained some water damage, so I decided to upgrade to the new 11th. My 2 stars are in relationship to a previous 5 stars. Perhaps I would rate it higher if I didn't have an earlier edition to compare it with. It's not all bad: there is a new enlarged view of southern China and Taiwan, a larger map of Korea, a blown-up view of central Japan, a new enlarged view of central Mexico, better coverage of South America, etc. Also some inevitable trade-offs, e.g. two nice expanded views of California, but the big map of Alaska is gone.

There are several major problem areas, however: a couple of glaring examples: in the older version of central Italy, the scale is 1:1,000,000 and includes a detailed map of Rome which is laid over the sea off the west of the peninsula. In the new version, the scale is only 1:1,250,000 which includes a vast, empty expanse of the Tyrrhenian Sea taking up about half of the whole map. The map of southern Italy is even worse: it is the same reduced 1:1,250,000 and is about 3/4 empty ocean, whereas the older version has the more detailed 1:1,000,000 scale which also shows more detailed views of Sardinia and Sicily, and much less empty ocean.

Greece and its islands also show up smaller in the new version (the page dimensions are the same!). Standard written Greek contains an accent-mark for each longer word, to show where it has the stress; my old 5th edition faithfully records this information for the towns, rivers, etc., but in this "new improved" edition the accent-marks are all gone! The new version has a 1:3,000,000 map of the whole of Turkey, including generous swaths of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean; the older version had two much more detailed (1:2,000,000) maps of eastern and western Turkey.

The scale on the New York/New Jersey map is about the same in both editions; the older has a 1:250,000 scale map of the NYC urban area filling in the large area of ocean s.e. of the city, but in the new version that map is gone, all we have left is the big empty ocean. I'm sure that saved them some money, but not if nobody wants to buy it.....

The city maps which were tucked into "low-rent" spaces (empty ocean etc.) in many, many places in the old versions are now all gone, so goodbye also to the big beautiful maps of the London and Paris metropolitan areas (2 full pages each): no city-maps allowed!

Although the paper-quality is good, and the inking has a crisp, clean look, the topography is not as much fun as before: everything is in a lighter shade (they saved themselves some more money!) and so the distinctions between lowland and mountainous areas are not as clear as before.
I was going to donate my older atlas to the department library, but now I'm going to keep it! I feel like the new version is a kind of insult to my intelligence: I don't need to see all of Turkey together to realize it is a single country, what I expect to see in a big, expensive atlas is DETAIL, not cost-cutting. Since this is supposed to be the best, I would be willing to pay even a little more, if I got my money's worth. This atlas may still be the best, but its high price combined with the loss of previous valuable features may cause potential buyers to look more at the competition, e.g. the Oxford Atlas of the World.

The gold standard
This atlas sets the standard for all others.

I have been using older editions of the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, and no other atlas comes close to this one in terms of user-friendliness and degree of detail.

The second-best choice to the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World is the Oxford University Press's "Atlas of the World". It has the same user-friendly overview over the maps contained in the atlas ("Key to the World/European Map Pages") on the insides of the front and back hardcover. And it has the same comprehensive index of names in the back, featuring not only the location of a certain place on the grid of a map, but also the place's longitude and latitude.

The main difference is the size of the two: The Times Atlas is 19 by 13.3 inches, the Oxford Atlas is 15 by 11.3 inches. The bigger-sized maps of the Times Atlas allow greater detail. In degree of detail, no atlas beats the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World.

If you want to buy an atlas for keeps and you don't have small kids who love to finger your treasures - this is the one to get!

A downgrade from previous editions
The Times Atlas made its reputation by being the best atlas in the English Language. In previous editions, its detail and scale was as good as you could get(except for the briefly available and slightly less comprehensive Book of the World from Macmillan). This latest edition may still be better than anything else out there, but I haven't bought it even though I'd like to update. I've looked it over in stores, and the user who noted the reduced scales is right on the mark. I think all of the map scales have been reduced somewhat from earlier editions. He's probably also right about the clarity of the cartography. All in all, I'd say they had poor judgment in downgrading. This was the atlas for people who really knew maps, wanted the best and were willing to pay for it. Now it's a disappointment.