All maps are approximations to an unobtainable truth. Their design is influenced by the social and economic background of those who commission and draw them, and those who use them. The Peters Projection makes a specific point about our perception of the world, in particular about the North‐South divide. Peters Projection aims to show countries in a true representation of their size. This background is discussed in the preface by Arno Peters, and in the cartographic introduction.
The atlas part of this book shows the world in 85 maps in Peters Projection, all to the same scale. By using a constant scale the true size argument is extended. The coloration of the maps is based on satellite images to give a clear distinction in colour between vegetated regions, barren lands and continental ice, with sea ice shown as a cracked surface. Careful use of shading emphasises hills and mountains. Polar regions are shown using the Peters Projection looking at the true pole rather than the equator; these are some of the more interesting maps as many other atlases omit these regions. Each map has a small whole world projection showing where the particular double A4 spread is on the surface of the earth. There is also a gazetteer which uses a new simplified method of reading down or up from the top or the bottom half of the page. For maps on a small scale like these, that show few named places or features this works, but I would dread if publishers of a town A‐Z took to this. The maps are beautifully produced.
After the atlas maps there are 246 thematic maps, covering such topics as information media, fish catches, religions, energy resources, and employment structure. These are illustrated by one or more world maps coloured to show the differences between countries. The scales vary from theme to theme; per cent of workforce by sector, foot types as percentage of calories consumed, percents of world production of minerals and so on. There is a full listing of the thematic topics after the list of the atlas maps (I mention this because I expected them to be listed at the beginning of the section and did not immediately find them). There are also maps of continental masses from 560 million years ago in Peters Projection, a map of the seas and rivers and maps of locations of volcanoes and hurricanes, of hours of sunshine (I assume Campbell Stokes) temperature and precipitation. There is a double page map showing the locations of states, which is useful to interpret the thematic maps as there can be as many as 12 maps on a double spread which makes the country names very small. The thematic maps are a good way of presenting differences between countries but other resources would be needed to explore the causes and effects of the variations. There is a list of sources used for the thematic maps, but this is more a list of acknowledgement rather than a bibliography, and it would take considerable work to go back to the source on the basis of the list. A proper bibliography would help. I have one other criticism of the book. All the atlas maps and a number of the individual maps in the thematic section are printed across the page gutter, and the binding is so tight that details are lost.
I like the maps, and found both the atlas and the thematic maps informative and interesting. It forms an interesting comparison with the other projection in atlases I have used. School and public library reference collections should have a copy of this atlas both for the information it contains, and as an alternative to the usual Mercator projection. Unless there is a version of this work aimed specifically at academic organisations, those that teach geography should have a copy of this work. The Peters Projection is an important example of a way of viewing the world. It is as significant as a view of the world as the medieval Mappa Mundi which put Jerusalem in the centre.
