Moscow
ISBN 1 84138 016 4
Keywords City, Russia
Sydney
ISBN 1 84138 017 2
Keywords City, Australia
Of various Belitha Press books reviewed by us these in certain respects come closest to being truly reference works. For their impressionistic portraits of cities most children will rely on films, videos, CD‐ROMs, or Websites; what can a book offer in comparison with these multimedia riches? Obviously, permanence: of the information and of its location within each volume. Also the systematic compilation and presentation of the information. Each volume is produced to a very standard pattern, beginning with maps of the city (including its location, both nationally and regionally as well as a general plan of main streets and suburbs); then double‐page spread chapters cover its history, people, architecture, education, religion and the like, as well as getting around, shops, food and drink, theatres and entertainment, museums and galleries, and on to such topics as special events, city characters, and the future. These are pretty comprehensive surveys, managing to pack in a lot of (but never too much) detail. Each volume is completed by a timeline, glossary and index.
The colour illustrations throughout each volume are both clear and relevant and both enhance and expand the texts. These are aimed at the nine‐ to 12‐year‐old age range and do not try and avoid, but rather tackle head‐on, such difficult issues as the deaths of aborigines in police custody in Sydney (in the Crime and Punishment chapter) or the nature of the Soviet regime in Moscow.
The next volumes promised will cover Beijing, Berlin, London, and Paris. This should grow into a very valuable encyclopaedic series (or perhaps omnibus volume at some point) with consistent approach and so building into a valuable educational and reference resource.
