Geography Books

As a novice to the English Civil War I found this book very easy to
read & grasp. I really appreciated the military situation maps listed
by year, it helped put the battles & campaigns into a logical framework.
Buying this book is money well spent!

Imagine a 100 maps, arranged in chronological order, to resemble time lapse snapshots showing the growth and growing pains of the United States. Depicting explorers' routes, Native American homelands, changing population densities, and many other vital aspects of expansion, this provides colorful details about the transistion from red men and buffalo to white men and cattle. I was particularly impressed by the pen and ink drawings and the unusual collection of black and white photographs.

A final chapter, The Real Significance of the Frontier," gave me a new apprecition for the circles of conflicts that drove westward expansion: North vs South; West vs. East; and individuals vs big government and big business.

I wish I had read this book in high school or college. It would have provided a depth that was often lacking from boilerplate American history textbooks.

The Rand McNally ATLAS OF WORLD GEOGRAPHY includes an introduction about how to use the atlas; over ten pages of questions and answers about each of the 7 continents of the world; a section about the universe and solar system; more than 35 different tables and charts outlining islands, mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, oceans, lakes, rivers, climate and weather patterns, and population; a section that includes all the flags of the world's countries, and slightly more than 110 pages of maps. The book is a fairly inexpensive and makes a great resource, especially in a classroom setting. It really comes in handy if one doesn't have internet access and is writing a report about culture or geography; it makes a great starting point. Its also a great book to study when cramming for JEOPARDY!

This book on ocean and atmosphere dynamics has been a classic ever since its appearance and there are various reasons. It is written in an extremely lucid style, it covers most of the standard material of the field, and gets the balance between mathematical integrity and simplicity exactely right. I found it a pleasure to read it.

This book lives up to the editorial reviews. It covers a wide range of atmospheric processes in good detail. There are a fair number of abbreviations used, and early in the book there are a number of references to sections that will be dealt with later. But that never detracts from the steady build up of information. Undoubtedly, for me the greatest strengths were the large number of explanatory figures, tables, boxed explanations and case studies. Each section of the book commences with a brief statement and key point list of the ideas to be presented, many also have a boxed summary, and parts conclude with a key point summary. This may sound like the author has overworked the adage, "Tell them what you are going to say, say it, and tell them you have said it" but that is not the case at all. These greatly strengthen the knowledge flow. I read this book out of general interest, and it was well worth the time spent. I was familiar with much of the content, but not organised in my thinking about it; this book helped a lot. If I have a criticism, it is that the 14 black and white photographs dotted through the book would have looked much better in colour. If there are typos, errors of fact and omission, then they weren't obvious. If you wondered why the wind blows, the rain falls, and where angular momentum, vorticity and other such terms fit into the general picture of the weather, but you would prefer to find out without revising your calculus course notes first, this book is for you.

My daughter (age 5) is learning about geography, different countries, cultures, etc. without even trying! The pull out letters are the best part. This is a very imaginative book, well worth having.

Great information for younger children. For teachers who do units over the continents. Easy information without the bogged down information that some books give. A must have.

This a great series on different countries and this book on Australia have great pictures and easy to read facts.

I highly recommend this book for teaching children about Australia and New Zealand. It is just right, provides good information and isn't long winded. It's actually fun to read. Remember those deadly dull country books we had to read or browse in when we were kids? Hopefully those books are passe!

I only have one 'coffee table' book, and this is it.

This inspiring and moving book, beautifully captures in words and over 120 full-colour photographs the essence of the isolated continent that is Australia. The author, Darren Jew, was inspired by his father's travels in Antarctica to pursue a career in nature photography, and has photographed much of the world's wildlife and landscapes. However, it is his native Australia, where he grew up and lives, and where he spent 8 years as photographer for the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service which is his greatest inspiration.

In this book he takes the reader on a journey from the abundant life of the great barrier reef and tropical rainforests, to the stark beauty of the red centre. Along the way he shares with us his understanding of and love for the unique plants and animals that make this isolated continent their home.

Why do I love this book? I have travelled in Australia many times, and it is a truly magnificent and fascinating place to which I will return again and again. The author has captured this magic with breathtaking images and lyrical yet factual prose. It's clear he knows and understands the land, its plants and animals. The breadth of material is outstanding. You can dive down to the depths of the great barrier reef and swim amongst the beautiful corals and cruising barracuda; sit on a sandy athol watching the sun go down or catch crabs scuttling to their holes; climb the misty ranges of the blue mountains or gaze in awe at the majesty that is Ayers Rock.

Darren's range as a photographer is as wide as his knowledge of the land. His portaits of wildlife are superb - some burstling with action such as courting terns and diving whales, others graphic still lifes -the brilliance of the the colourful cup moth on a palm leaf, the beady eye of the watchful yellow python. They're all here: kookaburras and koalas, possums and platypus, cassowarys and crocodiles. There are over around 60 colour plates of all the well known Australian fauna and a few you won't have even thought of.

And the landscape photographs match the wildlife ones in both quantity and quality. Darren really does 'write with light' and captures the spirit of a place perfectly. You can almost feel the water dripping from the tree ferns in the rainforests, imagine the scent of silver barked eucalypts against the deepest blue sky and feel the parched red desert and sacred rocks.

Just as he captures the spirit of the creatures and landscapes, he too captures the moment. One of my favourite pictures is a glassy wave breaking onto the reef, every drop of water frozen at that moment in time - now where's my surf board?

Whilst many of Darren's pictures are spectacular panoramas, he is also adept at capturing the more intimate scenes: a close up of delicate forest fungi dripping with dew; a tiny turtle hatchling making its dangerous trip back to the ocean.

The words which accompany the images are both inspiring and illuminating - simply but engagingly written, with a vast store of first hand knowledge to draw upon. You can tell that the author loves his home and wants to protect and nuture it.

Whenever anyone asks me what Australia is like, I show them this book. Then they book their Qantas ticket. Really, it's that good.