The Times Atlas of World History (HAMMOND CONCISE ATLAS OF WORLD HISTORY) Times Books; Hammond Incorporated; Barraclough, Geoffrey and Parker, Geoffrey

Featuring more than six hundred maps, this reference combines the visual detail of an atlas with a comprehensive narrative of world history from ancient times to the present

First published to considerable acclaim in 1978 (revised editions followed in 1984 and 1989), this atlas contains 600 visually exciting maps, 300,000 words of text, and 128 double-page spreads on major themes in world history. This fourth edition is the most radically revised, according to the publisher. Thirty maps have been replaced, and another 29 have been substantially changed. All the drawings that appeared in the last edition have been replaced by photographs.

Parker, Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale, is the new editor, and there are more than 30 new contributors. Notable is the large number of new contributors for South and Southeast Asia. British spellings have been replaced with American ones, and gender-neutral words have been substituted for gender-specific ones.

Changes in both maps and text are numerous and incorporate recent historiography and archaeology. For example, the map of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica now includes recently discovered Mayan sites at Lamanai and Tipu. There is a new map on the Portuguese exploration of Africa. Perhaps the most notable new spread is one entitled "Europe from 1973," which describes the dramatic developments in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Maps illustrate the European Community and the fall of Communism. The last spread in the atlas, formerly "The World in the 1980s," is now "The World in the 1990s," with new maps illustrating such things as international trade in illicit drugs and ozone depletion.

A noticeable omission is a large-scale political map describing the breakup of the former Soviet Union. Also, a map illustrating the Persian Gulf War would have been useful. Nevertheless, virtually every aspect of this thoroughly revised work has been improved, from maps with more distinct colors to the introduction of photographs.

Retaining its reputation as the most useful historical atlas, the Hammond Times Atlas of World History is an essential purchase for most libraries. At $95 it is a bargain, only $10 more than the third edition.