The next time you see "Gladiator", "Titanic", or any period film, look at this book and see what the world looked like then. It will give you a tremendous perspective that goes beyond the scope of the films. Who were those barbarians that Maximus was fighting and where did all those other gladiator slaves come from ? It's all here.


Best of many I looked at.   August 11, 1999
 19 out of 20 found this review helpful

I wouldn't rave forever like the dude from Providence about it. Some of the rivers are left unnamed on some of the maps as if they were not essentially formative during various times in history. With that caveat out of the way, I must have inspected 20 or 30 atlases seeking the most comprehensive historical atlas to help me through Gibbons' Decline and Fall... This is by far the best of the lot.


The key historical resource for every household   March 31, 1999
 18 out of 21 found this review helpful

This book reveals history with an unusual magnetism by its ingenious use of graphic arts. It conveys exponentially greater amounts of information in a single page than even a whole normally written book can. With beautifully crafted, 3-D-appearing maps and inviting use of color, this atlas puts you in an astounding overview of world history not obtainable from normal history publications. I think this book is an absolute must for every household with growing children and a wonderful tool for adults, as well. It's also the penultimate jumping off point for anyone wishing to study history further. And, I must say, it's absolutely perfect for those who hate history! They won't hate it after seeing this book. To give you an indication of my reaction to this book, I bought it now because I'd seen it years ago in our public library at a time when I was out of money. I never forgot it. It has remained one of the priorities I swore I'd attend to as soon as I got back in the money and so, after waiting all those years, I've finally bought my own copy of it. Not many better ways to use that long-awaited money than getting a book like this. I am not a history expert so I cannot possibly have checked this book for historical content. But I don't think that's an issue with this book. I think you'll still know many times more about world history after you're done with this book than without it, even if historians found some text entry or ancient border to argue over. By the way, if my writing style sounds a bit commercial, I really am customer of amazon.com, not a plant by the publisher or something. It's just that I spent a number of years as a typesetter and so have picked up a writing style common to advertisements. That's what we typeset all day long! Sorry.