World Desk Reference

Revised and expanded edition for the year 2000 the best-selling atlas is a comprehensive, single-volume guide that includes information on population, crime, defense, and natural resources. Leading experts analyze nine key subjects affecting each country: population, communication, hunger, the environment, tourism, conflict, the final frontiers, ethnicity and economy.

Set aside a little extra time when you're looking up information from the DK World Desk Reference--you won't be able to keep yourself from browsing. The large, gorgeous pages are colorful and well designed, and while the facts you need are readily available, their neighbors are clamoring for your attention, too. Beginning with a set of physical, historical, and economic maps of the world and its continents, the Desk Reference quickly gets to its heart: several pages devoted to each nation of the world (as of the year 2000), from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Clear, detailed maps, synopses of political, economic, environmental, historical, and demographic information, and exquisitely helpful charts bring each country to life and serve as a brief but thorough lesson on its place in the world. The four-page spread on Yugoslavia will help you understand the situation there better and faster than a pile of history textbooks, and your awareness of the importance of groups such as the G7, WTO, and IMF will expand tremendously after just a few minutes of browsing. Despite its entertainment and educational value, though, the DK World Desk Reference is also a sharply focused reference tool: The index and gazetteer will bring you to the right page without fail time and again. --Rob Lightner