Geographica's Pocket World Reference

Random House

$39.95


One would think, from looking at the New Zealand entry in this reference book, that no people live here amid the chocolate-box scenery.

Which is a shame because, apart from this observation, this is an excellent guide to the world: concise, but up-to-the-minute, whether it is registering human conflict (the Sudanese Government's war of annihilation against the Nuba people, for instance) or economic trends.

A great section of maps, and essays on many topics, from the origins of the universe, to human evolution and globalisation. Gilbert Wong and Margie Thomson