First published in 1996, with reprints in 1997 and 1998, this second edition adheres to the well known maxim that “if it ain't broke don't mend it”. Accordingly, the same tried and tested geographical and thematic sections, each divided into a number of two‐page spreads comprising text, maps and colour illustrations; the same ten pages of concise biographies of the most renowned explorers, geographers and scientists, “whose achievements are described in the text”; and the same four‐columns‐to‐the‐page Time Chart of Exploration, are all in evidence.
Possible difficulties in following a chronological sequence within a geographical framework are obviated not only by the Time Chart but also by the six‐page index. For example, Vitus Jonassen Bering (1680‐1741) appears in The Great Northern Expedition (pp. 48‐9), The North Pacific Coast (pp. 140‐1), The North Pacific (pp. 160‐1), Search for a Northern Seaway (pp. 174‐5) and, inexplicably, according to the index, in Going to the Moon (p. 225)! Being an important figure in Russian exploration, he is granted a 16‐line biography and two mentions in the Arctic time chart for 1728 and 1741.
An instance of obscure episodes in the history of exploration revealed occurs in The Roman Empire where we read that, in the first century ce, a voyage of discovery was undertaken by a freed slave who sailed across the Indian Ocean to the Deccan kingdoms of southern India, “the source of many of the products eagerly sought by Red Sea traders”. Unfortunately, there is no mention of the slave's name, exactly when he travelled, or where exactly to, and there is no record in the Time Chart of his voyage. And, even more worrying, there is no reference to where more information might be found. In fact, there is a complete absence of bibliographic references anywhere, although the Picture Acknowledgements are both detailed and exhaustive. However, to be fair, no reference to this voyage could be traced in The Oxford Companion to World Exploration (Buisseret, 2007), recently reviewed in these columns (RR 2008/46). A search through the Hakluyt Society publications might be more successful, although this is by no manes certain.
For this new edition the Atlas has been updated “to include the many discoveries over the last decade in the exploration of rainforests and deserts, and in the study of the Earth's most inhospitable regions, such as the ocean depths and the polar regions. It also looks beyond the confines of the Earth to the Solar System, and the exploration of space”. The last section, Exploration Today, contains ten thematic spreads: Tropical Forests, Hot Deserts, The Polar Regions, The Marine Environment; The Challenge of the Mountains, The Global View, Going to the Moon, Exploring the Inner Planets, Journeys to the Giants and Asteroids, Comets and Beyond. All, without exception, provide ample coverage of recent developments and discoveries. So, the claim of keeping up to date, often claimed but not always born out in practice, is completely justified in this instance.
In short, this dependable atlas has commendably rejuvenated itself. It should be a must purchase in smaller public libraries and in appropriate post‐16 school and further education libraries. But a few, well chosen references to up to date books and articles would be more than welcome.
